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THE BIBLE. 






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BY M*fi.* ELLET, 

AUTHOR OF " THE WOMEN OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 



NEW YORK: 

G. P. PUTNAM, 155 BROADWAY. 

LONDON. 
Putnam's American agency. 

1849. 
1/ 



33'5>5 1 5C> 
,ET5 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by 

G. P. PUTNAM, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New Yorl?. 



R. CRAIGHEAD, PRINTER AND STEREOTYPER, 
1]2 FULTON STREET, NEW YORE. 



CONTENTS 



D.D 



I. THE FIRST HUMAN FAMILY, 
II. THE FAMILY OF. NOAH, 

III. ABRAHAM AND HIS FAMILY, . 

IV. THE FAMILY OF LOT, 
V. ISAAC. BY REV. GEORG-E W. BETHUNE, D.D., 

VI. JACOB. BY REV. HENRY FIELD, 
VII. THE FAMILY OF MOSES, 

VIII. JOB AND HIS FAMILY. BY REV. M. S. HUTTON 
IX. THE FAMILY OF ELKANAH, 
X. ELI AND HIS FAMILY, 
XI. THE FAMILY OF NAOMI, . 
XII. THE FAMILY OF SAUL, . 

XIII. THE FAMILY OF DAVID, . 

XIV. THE FAMILY OF SOLOMON, 
XV. THE FAMILY OF AHAB, . 

XVI. THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA. BY REV. WILLIAM MARTIN, 
XVII. THE HOLY FAMILY. BY REV. B. M. PALMER, . 
XVIII. THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. BY MISS CAROLINE CHESEBRO 

XIX. THE FAMILY AT BETHANY. BY REV. S. D. BURCHARD, 
XX. THE FAMILY OF CORNELIUS, 

XXI. THE FAMILY OF MATTATHIAS, FROM THE APOCRYPHA, 



Page 

1 

8 

11 

26 

35 

45 

55 

63 

86 

92 

99 

106 

116 

129 

134 

144 

150 

167 

195 

204 

212 



FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 



i. 

THE FIRST HUMAN FAMILY. 

Neander, in his History of the Establishment and Progress of the 
Christian Church, says that the Bible was the chief book of instruc- 
tion for families in the first centuries of Christianity. A wise use 
was also made of it in the public education of youth. A celebrated 
statesman required his son "to commit to memory every day a 
portion of the Holy Scriptures, and the boy took great pleasure 
therein ; the cultivation of mind as well as heart being advanced, 
while his aspirations after truth and sanctification were the engross- 
ing aims of his life." The obligations of distinguished writers in all 
ages to the Bible, especially to its poetical portions, must be 
acknowledged by all who compare their works with it. Schlegel 
says — "The sacred writings form a fiery and godlike fountain of 
inspiration, of which the greatest of modern poets have never been 
weary of drinking ; which has suggested to them their noblest 
images, and animated them for their sublimest flights." Cowley 
also, in his preface to " Davideis," proves his assertion that fiction 
is not necessary to fine poetry, by directing attention to the literary 
value of the Scriptures. " What can we imagine," he says, " more 
proper for the ornament of wit or learning in the story of Deucalion 
than in that of Noah ? Why will not the actions of Samson afford 
as plentiful matter as the labors of Hercules ? Why is not Jephtha's 
daughter as good a woman as Iphigenia ? And the friendshiu 

1 



I FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

of David and Jonathan more worthy celebration than that of 
Theseus and Pirithous ? Does not the passage of Moses and the 
Israelites into the Holy Land yield incomparably more poetical 
variety than the voyages of Ulysses or JEneas ? Are the obsolete 
threadbare tales of Thebes and Troy half so stored with great 
historical and supernatural actions as the wars of Joshua, of the 
Judges, and of divers others ? Can all the transformations of the 
gods give such copious hints to nourish and expatiate on as the 
true miracles of Christ, or of Iris prophets and apostles V 

But not only, nor chiefly, in a literary point of view, is the Holy 
Book the best instructor of families. It will not be questioned, at 
least by any who believe in revelation, that a substantial religious 
foundation is indispensably necessary for the true family organization 
and welfare ; the more so, as experience shows daily how far into 
the future extend the habits and influences of family life, exercising 
a controlling effect upon that which is more public, whether it lie in 
the department of Church or State. No truth is more generally 
admitted than that most of the good or evil exhibited in the actions 
of men exists in the germ during childhood and youth, and that it 
may often be discerned by judicious observation, and checked or 
eradicated, or be nourished by careful culture. Where the conduct 
in advanced years is not governed by correct principle, the presump- 
tion is a fair one that the home culture has been neglected. 

The differences are strongly marked between the family life of 
ancient and modern times. In the primitive ages of the world, the 
bond of union was closer, firmer, and more enduring, and the com- 
munion of feeling more pervading and constant. Parental authority 
was more reverenced, and was exercised in a wider range : the sons 
and daughters were educated at home, and the household circle 
constituted their society. The fear of God, which was the founda- 
tion of the earliest wisdom taught, dwelt in the house ; the domestic 
altar was continually surrounded by worshippers ; and sacrifices, as 
well as vows, were offered to the Most High. In the simplicity 



THE FIRST HUMAN FAMILY. 



of ancient days, men who had been properly instructed walked by 
faith rather than by knowledge : they were accustomed to pay more 
regard to realities than to mere appearances, and the language of the 
lips more commonly expressed the feelings of the heart. Under 
the early constitution, the head of the family stood invested with 
authority delegated from the Supreme Father ; the wife had her 
honored though subordinate place, and obedience on the children's 
part was not only considered an imperative and paramount duty, 
but enforced by penalties rigidly exacted. The religious element 
which pervaded the domestic relations chiefly contributed to the 
preservation of order and harmony through all. The customs 
of polygamy and divorce, so discordant with the original institution 
of marriage, and the consequently degraded position of woman, 
were evils, however, that often marred the family life under the 
old usage. The tendency of Christianity was to remove them, 
while a new bond of union was added, in the common duty of 
allegiance to him who was " our elder brother according to the 
flesh." 

In modern times this religious foundation, the best and only sure 
one, so essential to the spiritual life of a household, has been parted 
with in a great measure — at least so far as respects the family 
organization. The domestic associations are no longer, by a law 
of their very being, so closely interwoven with piety that a decrease 
of the one involves a weakening of the other. Parental government 
and filial submission seem grounded rather upon expediency, or the 
accidents of feeling or circumstance, than growing directly out 
of obedience to the authority of the Creator in his institutions. In 
individual examples, it is true, this element of love to God has its 
appointed place, but they are few and scattered : it must operate 
universally, replacing the foundation, before the proper order and 
tendency of things can be re-established. To show this truth most 
strikingly, examples are better than metaphysical discussions. The 
Bible furnishes us with examples by which we may perceive and 



4 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

understand the true relations of this life ; may observe the manner 
of its existence in the first stages of the world, and trace it, through 
corruption and decline, to its ennobling through the precepts and 
faith of Christianity. 

In the following brief sketches, some attempt will be made to 
present a useful lesson, by exhibiting groups and individuals 
depicted in the Bible in their domestic associations. No effort will 
be made to array them in a coloring of romance, for the strength 
and beauty of simple truth in Holy Writ would be marred, rather 
than improved or set forth, by embellishment. The pictures will be 
shown as familiar to every reader, that a view of them in this new 
light may teach us the more impressively how inseparable is regard 
for the rules of life contained in Scripture from the integrity and 
preservation of the family constitution ; and how inevitably, Avhere 
this conservative principle is wanting, or its duties are neglected, the 
most disastrous and fatal results ensue, tending to the destruction 
of such ties. 

With the first man we become acquainted with the first 
human family. God himself, who created the man, and the 
woman for the man, joined them indissolubly in marriage, and 
bestowed his blessing, the crown of all perfectness, upon the new 
institution. The nuptials were celebrated in Paradise — their home 
and possession : they were alone of all their kind, yet felt no want, 
for, their union being complete, they were sufficient for each other. 
Instead of communion with other human beings, by which their 
knowledge might have been extended and their faculties of enjoy- 
ment enlarged, they enjoyed the familiar presence of the Deity, and 
converse with Him. The fountain supplying the aliment of their 
spiritual nature was ever at hand, and inexhaustible : nor had they 
any physical need for which the prodigal bounty of their Creator 
had not provided. They needed the shelter of no roof save the clear 
canopy of the sky, no covering but the innocence that enwrapped 
them as with a robe of light. Pure and serene, as the heaven 



THE FIRST HUMAN FAMILY. 5 

around and above them, was their life before God and in each 
other. 

Thus was this first example a perfect model of the true conjugal 
life, contemplated in its original constitution — grounded in the favor 
of God, embracing all the members of the family in its expanding 
circle, and furnishing an exhaustless spring of joy in the unselfish 
aspirations of each for the other, towards the Source of all happiness. 
The Love which is the essential being of God, and shineth ever in 
the zenith of eternity, was the life and light of the limited sphere in 
which were placed the ancestors of the race of mankind. They 
breathed and moved in a benignant atmosphere ; the smile of 
Divine benevolence encircled them ; there was naught to mar their 
complacency in each other, and the inferior creation rendered 
involuntary homage to the image of God in which they were made. 
So attractive has this picture of primitive innocence and virtue been 
found, that in different ages poets have delighted to throw around 
it the graces of fancy, and dwell lovingly on the ideal of a happiness 
such as the world has never seen since — such as has never since 
been delineated by the imagination. The descriptions given by 
Milton of the purity and felicity of the first pair, which linger so 
pleasingly in the memory, were but expressions of the idea we 
gather from the Bible ; as were the pictures of elder poets. In the 
" Adam" of the Italian poet Andreini, the Mystery or Sacred Drama 
which first suggested to Milton the idea of Paradise Lost, the 
Scriptural delineation is gracefully drawn out ; the utterance of 
affection and grateful happiness being most appropriate to the pure 
peace of a state of innocence, while the evil spirit who looks on, 
" with jealous leer malign," can but envy the joy he is yet unable 
to disturb, and fly in shame and rage from the hateful spectacle of 
human piety. 

By the first sin, this pure atmosphere of love was troubled — this 
cloudless heaven overcast. With the desolation of that first spiritual 
bereavement, when aspiration failed to reach the high companion- 



6 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

ship from which they had fallen, and the orphaned soul " all 
mournfully sat down among the senses," came another strange and 
not less bitter experience of fallen humanity, the interruption of 
confidence in themselves and in each other. The shame which was 
the first consequence of their guilt expressed this reproach and 
remorse, as did their hiding from the presence of the Lord their 
consciousness of separation from him ; the two-fold and wide- 
extending consequence of transgression thus being made known by 
anticipations of coming woe, felt through the two strongest prin- 
ciples of their nature ! 

Their expulsion from the garden where they had enjoyed intimate 
communion with their Maker, to wander in search of shelter, and 
wrings subsistence bv toil from the earth cursed for man's sake, was 
in appropriate significance of their spiritual exile. Divine mercy 
did not abandon the fallen pair. But the original beauty and glory 
of then state, in their relations to one another, were lost for them 
beyond the hope of recovery. The fatal jarring, by the forfeiture 
of innocence, of the chord from which had sounded the sweetest 
music of humanity, brought discord into their life ; the man 
accused the woman before the Judge, as the cause of his disobedi- 
ence ; and for the perfect unity for which their nature had been 
formed, and which was now broken and destroyed by sin, were 
substituted the relations of authority and subjection. Their new 
condition, so sadly contrasted with the first, was to be 

" A monumental, melancholy gloom 
Seen down all ages ;" 

although pleasures as well as sorrows belonged to it, and a way was 
pointed out to prevent the ultimate tendencies of sin and loss. The 
mother of our race taking in all humility her lot of self-sacrifice and 
submission, and Adam tilling the ground whence he was taken, saw 
the gradual development of the consequences of the Fall. The 
birth of sons completed the circle of the first family, and religious 



THE FIRST HUMAN FAMILY. 



hope, founded on the promise of a Seed that was to bruise the Ser- 
pent's head, sprang up in the heart of Eve with the sight of her 
first-born. But righteous Abel fell by the hand of Cain, and the 
murderer became a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. Deep 
must have been the anguish of those parental hearts, and bitter the 
remorse with which they watched the fearful unfolding of the curse 
their guilt had drawn down — with which they listened to " the 
first audible gathering " of the groans of a ruined posterity. 

Their struggles or sufferings are not recorded. Only in the brief 
outline of their history that follows are we permitted to see that the 
hope, almost extinguished at Abel's death, was renewed at the birth 
of Seth — the gift of God in his stead — the progenitor of the Seed in 
whom was to be accomplished the work of man's restoration. 



II. 

THE FAMILY OF NOAH. 

The families of the earth had grown corrupt before God, and 
filled with violence ; but Noah found favor, because he was a just 
man, and lived in obedience to his Maker. He was given at his 
birth a name that signified repose, or refreshing, perhaps by the 
spirit of prophecy, revealing his extraordinary destiny, and the 
blessings that were to flow through him to his posterity. Having 
the " righteousness of faith," he enjoyed the Divine protection and 
support, both during the progress of human corruption, and when, 
by reason of the great wickedness that filled the earth, the end 
of all flesh was come, and everything wherein was the breath of 
life was to be destroyed from under heaven. Noah and his wife, 
and his sons, and his sons' wives, were appointed to be saved in the 
ark, when the windows of heaven were opened, and the fountains 
of the great deer> were broken up, and all the high hills under the 
whole heaven were covered. In the enumeration of the persons 
who took refuge in the Ark, it should be remarked that Noah and 
his three sons had each but one wife ; although the destruction 
impending over the whole race of mankind, and their want of 
children as yet — for their sons were not born till after the flood — 
might have excused polygamy, could it have been excused. They 
acted, doubtless, under the immediate direction of the Deity, who 
thus testified his regard for the sacredness of the institution He had 
established in Paradise. 

After the warning given so many years before, the tedious 
building of the vessel, and the preparations at which the unbelieving 
scoffed and sneered — while Noah " did according to all that the 



THE FAMILY OF NOAH. 9 

Lord commanded him " — the day of wrath arrived ; the obedient 
family were shut in, and the waters increased upon the earth. 

" Sole, mid the storms, above the drear abyss, 
Mid rolling thunders, and the whirl of winds, 
And lightning's flash, revered and safe from all, 
The ark went on ; while swelling o'er the cries 
Of drowning men, and the resounding roar 
Of billows lashed to rage, from hearts within 
Rose the loud hymn to Heaven's all-ruling Lord." * 

And fervent indeed must have been the tribute of gratitude that 
ascended to the Father of mercy, as, amid a world's destruction, the 
ark, bearing its freight of rescued souls, floated over the dark waste 
of waters. 

As in Adam and Eve we saw an example of the disruption of 
the ties ordained in the primary constitution of a family, the 
confusion of its relations, and the disturbance of its peace by 
disobedience to the Divine command ; in that of Noah we may see 
how the principles essential to its life and happiness were preserved 
from the contamination of universal corruption, and may observe 
the restoration of that peace, so far as it can be restored in this 
mortal state, by self-denying and persistent obedience. Thus must 
the world-old truth, that evil produces its natural fruits, while the 
tendency of virtue is to elevate and bless, be illustrated in the daily 
experience of life. May we emulate the righteous Patriarch, whose 
soul was still cleaving to good in the midst of a perverse generation ! 
No more floods are to desolate the earth ; but the waters of 
peril and sorrow are often rising around us, and we are only safe 
when borne above them in the ark of salvation. 

The waters were abated, and returned from off the face of the 
earth. The saved family went forth from the ark, " and Noah 

* From " The Deluge " of Gabriello Chiabrera. 
1* 



10 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast and 
of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar." This 
passage strikingly shows the religious principle as the spring of his 
actions. His first act, on his deliverance from danger, was thus to 
express his gratitude to the Power who had preserved him so 
wondrously. The sole inheritor and lord of this lower world 
ventured not to take possession of the rich domain lying at his feet, 
before he had paid his vows of fealty to the Sovereign from whom 
he received all. His children joined in the service of praise and 
thanksgiving. The only surviving family of the whole human 
race was thus assembled and consecrated to God ; and God 
established his covenant with them, and placed his bow in the cloud 
for a token, and bestowed on them his blessing, — saying, " Be 
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." The gift of every 
beast of the earth, and every fowl of the air, and the fishes of the 
sea, and the green herb, and every moving thing, was formally 
made over to them ; and the smile of Divine favor, brighter than 
the sun, beaming once more in a cloudless heaven, shone upon this 
new beginning of the race. Happy, had the religious principles 
instilled and cultivated by Noah, with such careful training, produced 
congenial fruits in all the members of his family ! But the blight 
of Adam's sin was not yet removed ; the root of wickedness not 
yet destroyed ; the curse not yet taken away. The pious father 
had been seen righteous before the Lord in an evil generation ; two 
virtuous sons were the joy of his heart, but in Ham prevailed the 
spirit of unkindness and mockery; and the prophetic curse pro- 
nounced on his son was visited upon his descendants. 

Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years, and 
died at the age of nine hundred and fifty. He saw the generations 
of his sons, and the division of the land after their families, and the 
working of the blessing he had received — the blessing continued 
from father to son, unto thousands of those who love God, and keep 
his commandments. 



III. 

THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. 

Among the nations that overspread the earth after the flood, the 
families of the patriarchs stood separate and distinguished by the 
peculiarity of their religious faith. They were honored by special 
revelations from time to time, and enjoyed the privilege of familiar 
intercourse with the Deity, being the chosen objects of his protec- 
tion and blessing. They were called of God to be unlike those 
around them, and appointed for the preservation of the true 
knowledge and worship of Him, and the establishment of religion 
upon earth. The pastoral simplicity of their lives, and their migra- 
tory habits, were calculated to favor their state of immediate 
dependence on Him by whose revealed will their movements were 
directed. 

Abraham, the first and most eminent of the patriarchs, whose 
name has figured in eastern traditions — -and whose remarkable 
history is given in the simple narrative of the Book of Genesis — 
was one of a pastoral family dwelling in Ur of the Chaldees, a 
region which afterwards became the seat of the great Babylonian 
monarchy. The marriages of Abram and Nahor are mentioned as 
having taken place during their residence . there \ Haran, the father 
of Lot, dying before his father Terah in the land of his nativity. 
The migration of Terah and all his family from Ur of the Chaldees 
followed ; and they fixed their new settlement at Haran, where 
Terah afterwards died. 

The Bible does not inform us how Abram first acquired his 
knowledge of the unity and providence of the Deity, nor what was 



12 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

the belief of his tribe and family. The legends of other nations 
represent Terah as an idolater, and even as a maker of images. 
One of these traditionary fictions relates the surprise of Abram on 
seeing one of the images broken by an accidental fall, and the 
reasoning in his own heart, by which he became convinced that a 
deity incapable of saving itself from humiliation and injury, could 
not be a proper object of worship. Another, related in the History 
of the Jews, represents him walking by night over the spacious 
plain of Chaldea, gazing upon the stars of heaven, the adoration of 
which was a primitive form of idolatry, and observing the wonderful 
beauty of the planet Venus. " ' Behold,' said he within himself, 
' the God and Lord of the universe !' but the star set and disap- 
peared ; And Abram felt that the Lord of the universe could not 
thus be liable to change. Shortly after, he beheld the moon at 
the full : — ' Lo,' he cried — ' the Divine Creator— the manifest 
Deity !' but the moon sank below the horizon ; and Abram made 
the same reflection as at the setting of the evening star. All the 
rest of the night he passed in profound rumination ; at sunrise he 
stood before the gates of Babylon, and saw the whole people pros- 
trate in adoration. ' Wondrous orb !' he exclaimed, ' thou surely 
art the Creator and Ruler of all nature ! — but thou, too, hastest 
like the rest to thy setting ! — neither then art thou my Creator, my 
Lord, nor my God !' " 

Although we know not in what manner the idea of the one 
Supreme Creator was first acquired by the patriarch, it is pleasing 
to contemplate him, at this period of his life, alone among those 
around him as a worshipper of the revealed God. All the de- 
scendants of the sons of Noah, it is probable, had preserved some 
notion of His nature and power, though darkened and corrupted in 
their traditions, and mingled with their veneration for those works of 
His hands, the aspect of which most forcibly impressed their senses. 
It is not likely that they had any worthy conception of the moral 
attributes of the Deity. They worshipped, therefore, whatever, to 



THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. 13 

their perverted imagination, might seem to represent this unknown 
and incomprehensible Being. 

The time came when Abram, the destined father of a family and 
tribe chosen from among the families of earth, was to separate him- 
self from his country, and his kindred, and his father's house. The 
mysterious command was laid upon him, and the promise given, of 
which then there appeared little prospect of fulfilment — for Sarai 
had no children. The promise — "I will make of thee a great 
nation, and will bless thee, and make thy name great" — was one 
that comprehended every desire of a pastoral chieftain of that age. 
How great must have been the faith, which, looking beyond the 
most discouraging improbabilities, relied absolutely and implicitly 
on the Divine word ! Abram doubted not, questioned not ; his 
obedience was immediate. Collecting those who constituted his 
household— his servants and all the substance he had gathered, and 
accompanied by Lot, his brother's son — he passed across the 
Euphrates into the land of Canaan. Their first settlement was at 
Shechem, upon the plain of Moriah, between the mountains Ebal 
and Gerizim, where he was again favored with a vision of his 
Heavenly Protector, and the promise that the land before him 
should belong to his seed ; and where he performed the fundamen- 
tal duty of the chief of a clan, by building an altar unto the Lord. 
Moving onward, probably as the native pastures were exhausted, the 
tribe pitched their tents by a mountain eastward of Bethel ; in 
every halting-place an altar being erected, and solemn worship 
offered to the God in whom Abram trusted, and who was the invisi- 
ble guide of his wanderings. It is worthy of notice, that through 
all his removals, this was his first act on forming a new settlement. 
The blessing of the Almighty was sought, as the beginning and 
crowning of every enterprise, the safeguard and light of his 
dwelling. When he returned from Egypt, whither a famiue had 
driven him, and journeyed to the place of his former encampment, 
near the site where Bethel afterwards stood, he took possession by 



14 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

going to the height where he had at first built an altar, and 
offering solemn sacrifice thereon, calling upon the name of the 
Lord. . 

How attractive is the picture given of the pastoral life of the 
first patriarchs, passing from one pleasant locality to another, pitch- 
ing their tents by some grove or fountain, and acquiring increase of 
wealth wherever they went — under the abiding influence of the 
blessing borne with them ! They were rich in flocks and herds — 
sheep and oxen, and camels and asses, and tents, and men-servants 
and maid-servants ; the simple possessions naturally exchanged and 
accumulated in a primitive state of society. Besides these, Abram 
had silver and gold ; he was prosperous, for his substance had 
increased greatly during his visit in Egypt ; but it does not appear 
that wealth made him arrogant, or rendered him less disposed to 
respect the claims of others. When it became evident, by reason 
of the increase of Lot's riches also, that they could no longer dwell 
together without the continuance of strife between their herdsmen 
— and that " the land was not able to bear them — for their sub- 
stance was great" — Abram sought not to encroach on the pastures 
to which the stock of cattle belonging to Lot had an equal 
right with himself, but proposed a division of the land, and an 
amicable separation. He gave the choice to his brother's son, 
though he might have claimed it on the score of seniority, and the 
grant of the Creator. It was generous, therefore, as well as expres- 
sive of his desire to do justly — to ask no advantage for himself. 
He bids Lot select the portion he would, inhabit : " If thou wilt take 
the left hand, then I will go to the right ; or if thou depart to the 
right hand, then I will go to the left." The fertile and well-watered 
valley of the Jordan, blooming as the garden of the Lord, attracted 
the eyes of Lot, and he took his departure eastward, to establish 
his independent settlement among the cities of the plain. Abram 
remained in Canaan. After the departure of Lot, the Divine grant 
of the land was renewed to him and to his seed. He was com- 



THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. 15 

manded to survey the country from north to south, and from its 
eastern to its western boundaries ; to walk through the length 
and breadth of the land, and to regard it as the heritage of his 
posterity, which should be countless as the dust of the earth. 

The chief was not indifferent, in his own prosperity, to the 
dangers that beset his kinsman. When informed by a fugitive of 
the capture of Lot by invaders of the country, he made haste, 
with three hundred and eighteen of his trained servants, to pursue 
the enemy; and falling on them by night, rescued Lot and the 
other captives, and wrested from them the booty they had taken. 
The conqueror, returning from this excursion, was met by the grate- 
ful monarch whose enemies he had routed, and received the blessing 
of Melchisedek, who presented him and his troops with the refresh- 
ment of bread and wine. The magnanimity of Abram, and his 
jealous regard for the honor of God, are strikingly shown in his 
answer to the generous proposal of the king of Sodom, that he 
should take all the spoil, of which he had given a tenth part to 
the royal priest. He refuses to retain any part, "from a thread 
even to a shoe-latchet," consenting only that the young men, not of 
his household, who had joined his expedition, should receive their 
portion. He would not have it supposed that he had been in- 
fluenced by a wish to gain booty for himself; nor would he permit 
one of the native chiefs to boast that his gifts had contributed to his 
wealth. He was the vassal only of the Most High, and would 
acknowledge obligation to no other benefactor. 

Notwithstanding- the strength of his faith, the mind of the 
patriarch was disturbed by the apparent prospect — owing to his 
want of an heir — that his name and dignity would pass into another 
line. What were his possessions worth in view of the near extinc- 
tion of his immediate family, and the failure of his hopes of a long 
line of descendants ! The condescending assurance given in the 
Divine vision, and the affecting appeal of Abram, show the discon- 
tent and apprehension he had cherished. The natural feeling is not 



16 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

reproved ; but he is comforted, and his faith sustained, by a formal 
ratification of the covenant, according to the usage of primitive 
nations. At the setting of the sun, in a deep sleep, and amidst " a 
horror of great darkness" — the patriarch heard the mysterious voice 
announce the destiny of his posterity — and saw the symbol of 
Deity — the smoke and fire — pass between the divided victims, over 
which he had kept watch : the covenant being thus solemnly ratified, 
as between man and man. 

But little is said in the Scriptures, by which we may learn the 
character of Sarai. She appears to have been wanting in the faith 
so eminent in her husband, and which " was counted unto him for 
righteousness." Despairing of the fulfilment of the promise so often 
and so solemnly repeated, she ventures to propose means for 
bringing about the desired accomplishment. Perhaps the annoy- 
ances she afterwards suffered from the insolent behavior of her maid, 
the natural consequence of her folly, were intended as a reproof for 
her want of trust, and irreverent impatience. She seems to have 
been of a haughty and imperious temper, and felt bitterly the arro- 
gant insults of the servant whom she had elevated to the dignity of 
a wife. She complains to her husband of the humiliating treatment 
she has received, and lays to his charge the responsibility. " The 
Lord judge," she says, " between me and thee." The appeal was 
answered by Abram with permission to his wife to do with her maid 
as she pleased. He exhibits none of the feeling shown on a subse- 
quent occasion, when the dissensions in his family rendered it 
necessary for him to part with his son Ishmael ; for it is evident he 
had not wronged Sarai by any transfer of his affections. 

The jealous pride of the mistress, roused by the presumptuous 
conduct of Hagar, prompts her to treatment so harsh that the slave 
flies from the oppression, and wanders in the wilderness. Careless 
of her own fate, or that of her unborn child, she desires only to 
escape from present evil ; she can give no answer to the angel who 
asks whither she would go, but confesses that she has fled from the 



THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. 17 

face of her mistress. It is a touching trait in the character of 
Hagar, that she makes no attempt to justify herself by complaint of 
the unkind usage she has received ; indeed the consciousness of the 
presence and omniscience of God, which she expresses hi the name 
given to Him who spake to her — seems to imply that her thoughts 
dwelt on her own faults. The angel comforts her by an assurance 
that her affliction has been regarded, and a promise of numerous 
descendants ; and bids her return and submit herself to lawful 
authority. 

The race of which the Messiah was to be born must be " beyond 
every possible impeachment of its legitimacy ;" and after the lapse 
of fourteen years another revelation renews the covenant ; and the 
names of Abram and Sarai are changed by the Divine command, 
in token of their parentage of many nations. At the announcement 
that the covenant is to be established with the son whom Sarah was 
to bear, the father's love for his first-born is touchingly exhibited. 
His whole heart is poured out in the prayer for Ishmael. The 
blessing is to be inherited by one unborn. What should become of 
the boy whose birth had first brought joy to his tent — in whom his 
soul was bound up ! The strength of the parental feeling in 
Abraham's bosom is thus shown, in his tender solicitude for the 
child who had first awakened it. His prayer is answered by the 
promise of the blessing, though a subordinate one, to Ishmael. 

The pastoral simplicity of the world's infancy comes before us, as 
we contemplate the picture presented in the eighteenth chapter of 
Genesis — of the aged patriarch sitting in his tent-door in the heat 
of the day, the approach of the three strangers, and his reception of 
them with oriental hospitality. We are not told if Abraham 
perceived at first sight the real character of the mysterious visitors, 
or if the truth was revealed to him by any after intimation ; but it is 
probable that his lowly obeisance, when he ran to meet them from 
the tent-door, and invited thern to rest under the tree and refresh 
themselves, was an act of respect rather than of worship. The 



18 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

quick preparations for their entertainment, in which the master and 
mistress are active as well as their servants, and the particulars 
related, strongly mark the simple and generous character of that 
ancient hospitality. The meal was partaken of under the spreading 
tree which shaded the tent ; and then the chief of the three strangers 
renewed the promise of a son before given, and fixed the time of his 
birth. The laughter of Sarah, who heard this promise in the tent- 
door behind, indicated the unbelief of her heart, and was reproved, 
though mildly, by the Almighty visitant. 

It is remarkable, that by a few words in the verses succeeding, 
light is thrown upon the character of both Abraham and Sarah in 
their domestic relations. The patriarch's habitual exercise of due 
authority over his household, and pious zeal in instructing them, is 
attested by the Lord in the disclosure of his gracious purpose 
towards him. " I know him, that he will command his children 
and his household after him," is not said as a reason for the 
bestowal of the blessing at first promised — for the very fitness to 
receive it was a gift from above — but it was part of the plan of 
benevolence. The father of the faithful had once listened to the 
persuasions of his wife, and obeyed them in espousing Hagar ; 
instances of misconduct and criminal distrust of God's protection 
through scenes of peril, are also recorded of him ; but his heart, by 
the Divine aid, was set to do that which was right, and the same 
grace would be granted to keep him faithful to the end, and to 
cause his descendants to " keep the way of the Lord." It appears 
from several particulars mentioned, that the patriarch was naturally 
disposed to exercise his own judgment in shaping his course. His 
disingenuous equivocation concerning his relations to Sarah, in 
Egypt and in Gerar, strongly evinces this tendency ; but under the 
appointed discipline, these corrupt inclinations were gradually over- 
come. The last severe ordeal through which he was called to pass 
— in the sacrifice required of his only son — was met in a manner 
that showed him then advancer, in the life of faith bevond the weak- 



THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. 19 

ness which had marked its early growth ; and thenceforward we hear 
of no more doubts or shortcomings. 

The expression of Sarah in the eighteenth chapter, calling 
Abraham " my lord," seems to be referred to by St. Peter in his 
commendation of her obedience to him. The life of this couple — 
growing old in faithful affection, and in expectation of the blessing 
mysteriously promised — is simply and beautifully delineated. Sarah 
was subject to Abraham as her head, superior, and guide. Abraham, 
; 'the friend of God," leaned on the Divine counsel and support. 
The son born to them — the child of promise — the heir of unknown 
blessing — the channel of mercy fore -ordained for the whole race 
of mankind, was a gift received from the hand of the Creator, and 
unspeakably precious. The circle of the family life was thus com- 
plete. The bondwoman and her son had no proper part therein — 
and they were to be removed from the association. The custom of 
men in that primitive age allowing a plurality of wives, it was not 
expressly censured ; but that the practice was a violation of the 
principle on which the marriage relation was founded, and tended 
to the subversion of domestic comfort and peace, is plain from the 
examples in the case of the patriarchs. Abraham was doomed to 
suffer the consequences of his own fault, by the necessity of parting 
with the son borne to him by Hagar. The haughty spirit of Sarah 
could ill brook the boyish insolence of Ishmael ; and remembering 
Abraham's former yielding to her complaints, she demanded 
peremptorily the expulsion of the boy and his mother. It was 
hard for the father to send from him the child he had first loved, 
and in whose opening faculties, wild as his nature was, he felt a 
parent's pride. " The thing was very grievous in his sight ;" and 
in his anguish he doubtless sought the direction of that great 
Being by whom hitherto his steps had been guided. The answer, 
couched in gracious and comforting terms, commands him to comply 
with the apparently unreasonable demand, and to yield to his wife 
the unlimited control over her servant assigned her by the usage of 



20 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

pastoral tribes. An intimation is added of blessing destined Ishmael 
for Abraham's sake ; and Abraham, obedient to the Divine vision, 
rose up early to make preparations for the departure of the two. 
There is- something unspeakably touching in the very simplicity of 
the account, which leaves room for imagination to dwell upon the 
melancholy scene. The aged and affectionate father, placing in 
Hagar's hands the provisions which could sustain them only a brief 
way on their lonely journey, and sorrowing that he should see the 
face of his child no more — the Egyptian mother, bowed down in 
humiliation for this abrupt dismission from the home that had been 
hers so long ; perhaps reproaching herself for the unseemly pride 
and arrogance which so provoked her mistress — and the spirited 
lad, who would naturally feel the separation less keenly, in his 
youthful love of adventure, to be indulged without restraint in the 
wild and uninhabited districts where they were to seek their fortune. 
What a scene, with its deep pathos, for the embellishment of 
poetry ! We may well believe that tears in abundance were shed 
as the patriarch bade farewell to Hagar, and strained his son for the 
last time to his bosom in agonized embrace. The heart of Sarah 
must have melted at the sight of his grief, and her anger have 
given way to a willingness for reconciliation. She could not see the 
suffering of him she loved ; she could not see the handmaid who 
had served her so long, the boy who had grown from infancy by 
her side, go forth from her door, driven thence by her severity, to 
wander through the world, without a revulsion of feeling. But a 
higher purpose than hers was to be accomplished ; and the words 
she had uttered in anger were exponents of the decree fulfilled in 
after ages. Abraham obeyed, not the imperious demand of his 
wife, but the Divine direction ; and the consciousness of this, and 
that he was committing Ishmael, not to the uncertainties of a dreary 
future, but to the care of One who had promised to protect him, 
took away from the bitterness of parting. The fervent prayer 
with which he commended the boy to the keeping of his Heavenly 



THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. 21 

Father, ascended upwards from his pious heart on the wings of faith, 
and was heard. Then the Egyptian and her son went forth from 
the patriarch's dwelling. 

The wandering of the outcast Hagar and Ishmael in the wilder- 
ness — their sufferings from the failure of the supply of water, and 
the anguish of the mother, who lays down her child to die, and 
retires to weep, that she may not behold his last agonies — are 
recounted in a description which has never been surpassed in simple 
pathos. Here again is a scene for the artist, whose fancy could add 
no coloring more striking than is presented. The familiar story, 
with its typical meaning, need not be dwelt upon here, as the Egyp- 
tian and her son were no longer a portion of the family of Abraham. 

When the command came — the keenest trial to the parental feel- 
ing as well as to the faith of Abraham — to offer up Isaac in sacri- 
fice, we read of no struggle nor hesitation, as in the case of Ishmael. 
He utters no murmur, though bidden to cut short, with his own 
hand, the life on which his expectation depended of a numerous 
posterity, and the blessing which, through him, was to pervade the 
whole earth. As before, after the vision, he " rose up early in the 
morning," and prepared for his journey, having prepared wood for 
the burnt-offering. Those who were with him knew not of his 
intention ; and it is not likely that he confided the matter to Sarah, 
whose feebler faith and maternal anxiety might have interposed 
obstacles. Through the journey — which did not terminate with 
their arrival at Mount Moriah till the third day — there appears no 
objection or want of alacrity on his part to put the fearful command 
in execution. t This is explained by the Apostle, who says, Abraham 
believed God could raise his son from the dead ; and that he 
expected this is evident from the expression to the young men, that 
he and Isaac would return to them after their worship. He did 
not doubt the ultimate fulfilment of the promises ; and the mira- 
culous restoration of his son seemed a matter of course, since He 
who could not lie had said — " In Isaac shall thy seed be called." 



22 • FAMILY pictures from the bible. 

When it became necessary to communicate to Isaac his fatal pur- 
pose, no resistance was offered by the destined victim ; no shudder- 
ing^ of nature prompted to avert the blow. How strikingly does 
this circumstance show the strict religious training of the child of 
promise by Abraham ! The youth might have remonstrated against 
his father's incurring the guilt of murder ; he might have urged 
the illegality of human sacrifice, or even questioned the right of 
the prophet-patriarch — on the authority of a vision seen by none 
but lumself — to immolate his son. Isaac was grown to manhood, 
and would probably have surpassed his aged father in strength, had 
he chosen to escape or defend his life. But he had been educated 
in the principles of obedience and absolute submission to heavenly 
ordinances. The instructions received from his father's lips had fitted 
him to understand the obligations of the command ; and it is 
reasonable to suppose that Abraham communicated to him his own 
hopes of his restoration. He yielded himself voluntarily, to be 
bound and laid on the altar, as did the " Lamb of God," whom, by 
the act, he typified. 

Not only was Abraham thus worthy in his family relations of 
being the great example of faith and obedience to his posterity and 
the world, but he appears equally exemplary in other situations. 
What can be more sublime than his expostulation with the Deity to 
avert the impending fate of the Cities of the Plain ! And how 
exalted is the idea of the justice and mercy of the Infinite conveyed 
by the scene ! His position among the princes of adjoining territo- 
ries was a highly honorable one. He was a mighty prince among 
them, and their esteem was often testified by gifts. Abimelech, the 
King of Gerar, sought to form with him a treaty of amity, to 
continue inviolable to his descendants ; for he says — " God is with 
thee in all that thou doest." He had not forgotten, in his abounding 
prosperity, to ascribe all to the favor of Him from whom cometh 
every good thing ; and it is not unlikely that from him many of the 
neighboring chiefs learned the worship of the true God. 



THE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. . 2 b 

The expression so often used in Scripture, "gathered to his 
fathers," appears to have a meaning which throws light upon the 
customs of primitive ages. We learn that each tribe or family had 
its own place of burial — sometimes a spacious sepulchre, hewn from 
the rock, and divided into several chambers, where the dust of 
many branches of the clan might be deposited. The chief had 
here his appointed place, and round him were assembled the chil- 
dren who came one by one to moulder at his side. Thus the family 
union was preserved even in the grave. No stranger dust was 
permitted to mingle with the kindred remains ; and from generation 
to generation the descendants of the same progenitor occupied their 
last resting-place together. Thus Abraham, when Sarah died, 
applied to the chiefs of the clan of Heth to purchase a cemetery ; 
for as yet he had been a stranger and a sojourner, and in his 
wandering life had possessed no place to bury his dead. His home 
was fixed now in the land of Canaan ; and there was to be the 
sacred deposit, which he would guard with jealous care from foreign 
intrusion. He declines the complimentary offer of the. chiefs, of 
permission to bury his dead in the choicest of their own national 
sepulchres ; he refuses to accept as a gift from Ephron the cave and 
field he had selected as suitable for the purpose, though it was prof- 
fered publicly, as a mark of high respect. He will have this sacred 
possession isolated from all others, and takes it only on condition of 
being permitted to pay the price to its owner. The bargain is 
ratified, and the field secured to him, with its rock and the trees 
that were to shade the graves of his household. 

In widowed estate lived the patriarch after the death of his wife, 
occupied with the care and education of his son. When the time 
came that a wife should be provided for Isaac, the same determina- 
tion to keep his stock separate from the surrounding tribes, by 
avoiding their alliance, is manifested. In the ancient Mesopotamian 
settlement, the children of his brother Nahor yet live, and among 
his kindred there the patriarch determines to choose a wife for his 



24 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

son. His eldest and chief servant — supposed to be Eliezer of 
Damascus, the next in rank in the tribe, who was once his heir 
presumptive — is directed to depart on the mission, and is required 
to pledge a solemn oath that in no case shall the wife be chosen 
from the daughters of the Canaanites. Almost equally strong is 
his repeated command, that Isaac shall not be conducted back to 
the land of his own birth, even though the kinswoman selected 
should refuse to come and meet him in Canaan. In obedience to 
the Heavenly mandate, he had quitted the country of his nativity 
and his father's house : Palestine, by Divine grant, was the patri- 
mony of his descendants ; and the merging of his family with those 
of his kindred, which would be the consequence of return to Meso- 
potamia, was not less to be dreaded than a heathen alliance. In 
this anxiety for the seclusion and isolation of his own stock, it is 
not possible to say how much of the pride of an independent chief- 
tain mingled with Abraham's regard to the commandment intrusted 
to him. A desire to maintain his own dignity as the parent of a 
nation may have had some influence ; but his chief motive was the 
conviction of his duty to preserve integrity of descent in a line from, 
which was to spring the mysterious Seed promised to the first 
mother. That this was so is evident from the confidence he 
expresses in the success of the mission. " The Lord God of 
Heaven — He shall send his angel before thee." 

The departure of the servant, his arrival at the city of Nahor, 
and meeting with the lovely daughter of Bethuel — that beautiful 
history so rich in romantic interest and instructive lessoning — ■ 
belongs not strictly to this chapter. The bride in her modest 
beauty was received into Abraham's family, and on her first arrival 
at the encampment, conducted to the tent of Sarah, the place 
assigned to the chief female in the tribe. 

The line of the Messiah being thus cared for, and Isaac constituted 
the sole heir to all the wealth of Abraham, the patriarch married 
again. But his other children, having received gifts from him, were 



TIIE FAMILY OF ABRAHAM. 25 

sent away into the east country ; nor were their descendants, though 
noticed in the Hebrew annals, considered as belonging to the same 
stock with the Jews. Ishmael, indeed, joined with Isaac in the last 
duties to their father, interring his remains in the cave of Machpelah, 
where the dust of Sarah reposed. 

In all the relations of Abraham, his sincerity and fidelity appear 
prominent. He is thus as a husband, a parent, and as the head of 
a tribe ; but most of all his fealty to God is inviolate. This is the 
foundation of his exemplary character in respect of inferior claims. 
His building and sustaining of a family, and his provision for its 
continuance, have reference to the fulfilment of the great purpose 
revealed to him, dimly and darkly it may be, but with light enough 
to guide his own course. He "rejoiced to see the day" of the 
promised Redeemer, though its full splendor did not burst on his 
sight, but was veiled in symbols and intimations. He " trusted in 
God, and it was counted to him for righteousness." In his tent 
and circle the family life assumes a high and holy character — a 
significance beyond the ties of earth. May it not also in the life 
of his spiritual posterity ? May not each, in the maintenance of 
relations established by Divine authority, preserve a trust Divinely 
committed — to be transferred with care to the children whose 
remote destiny it must influence ? 



IV. 

THE FAMILY OF LOT. 

When Lot separated his family from that of Abraham, with the 
design of establishing his pastoral settlement elsewhere, his eyes 
were attracted by a rich and beautiful district of country, exceeding 
in fertility that he was leaving. The valley through which the 
Jordan flowed, abounding in luxuriant pasturage, in fair groves and 
blooming fields, was watered by many streams and studded with 
flourishing cities. Pleasant to the view — "even as the garden of 
the Lord" — it offered every advantage for a permanent abode ; for 
the resources of the land seemed inexhaustible, and the extending 
population would form a defence against the incursions of foreign 
invaders. Well content was the patriarch to have his home in so 
desirable a locality, and his encampment was formed near one of 
the principal towns. When the hostile army of the kings from the 
Euphrates and Tigris swept over this broad plain, and joined battle 
in the vale of Siddim with the confederate princes of Jordan, Lot 
was probably among those who strove to throw off the conqueror's 
yoke, since he was taken prisoner and rescued by the valor of Abram. 
This danger over and the country delivered from invaders, there 
seemed the fairest prospect of peace. In the patriarch's abundant 
prosperity, perhaps he felt himself consoled for living in a city of the 
wicked. It does not appear that by his residence in Sodom any of 
the inhabitants had been won over to the worship of the true God ; 
yet it is intimated that he had made efforts, though without effect, 
to stem the torrent of iniquity, and teach their duty to the reckless 
profligates who surrounded him. One of them bears testimony to 
this, and also to the fact that none in the city were like Lot — in his 



THE FAMILY OF LOT. 27 

reproachful speech — " This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he 
will needs be a judge." Thus alone in his faith and worship of 
Jehovah — encompassed with wickedness — all the enjoyment his 
wealth could procure must have failed to satisfy the mind of Lot, 
harassed incessantly with scenes of crime he was compelled to hear 
of or witness. His thoughts must often have wandered back to the 
happier days of his youth — to the peaceful time when he dwelt with 
Abram in Canaan, and held with him the intercourse of congenial 
hearts, and joined with him in worship before the altar of the Lord. 
Those remembrances could not be effaced by the restless ambition 
or the anxieties of his new life.* In heart Lot still honored the 

* The train of thought here suggested brings to mind a beautiful poem by 
Mrs. Caroline Gilman, in which are expressed the involuntary feelings of the 
American back-woodsman, who, retreating into the forest, has thrown off the 
forms of society, and would " fly beyond the Sabbath." We quote the poem 
entire : 

" He flies ! 
He seeks the moaning forest trees, 
The sunny prairie, or the mountain sweep, 

The swelling river rushing to the seas, 
The cataract, foaming 'neath the dizzy steep, 
Or softer streams that by the green banks sleep ; 
To these he flies ! 

" He lists 
The crackling of the springing deer, 
The shrill cry of the soaring waterfowl, 

The serpent hissing at his lone couch near, 
The wild bear uttering loud her hungry howl, 
The panther with his low expecting growl, 
Unmoved he lists. 

" Wanderer 
Beyond the Sabbath, tell me why 
With eager steps you shun the haunts of men, 



28 FAMILY .PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

religion lie professed, though fearful encroachments had been made 
by principles and motives antagonistic to piety — by the desire of 

And from the music of the church bells fly, 
That, floating sweetly o'er your native glen, 
Call you to worship by their chime again 1 
Say, wanderer, why? 

" You know 
You feel, beneath the woodland skies, 
When comes the seventh day of sacred rest, 

Deep wells of fond remembrance struggling rise 
Within the caverns of your rocky breast — 
A gush of thought, like visions of the blest, 
At times you know. 

" And you 
Will turn, and mark the record tree 
In stealthy silence, and a gentle prayer 

Unconsciously will struggle to get free, 
And you will feel there is a purer air, 
More holy stillness over nature fair, 
Which softens you. 

" How sweet 
The strain of skyey minstrelsy, • 

That floats above you in the wild bird's song ! 

Seems it to you the hymn of infancy, 
Borne on the breezes of remembrance long, 
When you were foremost in the Sabbath throng ? 
Those strains were sweet ! 

" Such tones 
Are swelling yet in many a spot, 
Sacredly twining out with praise and joy ; 

And there's a group, — Oh, they forget you not, 
Who prayers and tears for you, for you employ ; 
And hopes that even time cannot destroy, 
Are in their tones. 



THE FAMILY OF LOT. 29 

worldly riches and power. His righteous soul was vexed from day 
to day with the conversation of the wicked ; yet he did not resolve 
to leave all and come out from among them. The passage — " God 
remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the over- 
throw" — gives us reason to believe that the intercession of Abraham 
saved him from being involved in the ruin of his guilty fellow-citizens. 
When the angels led him forth from the city, the comment of the 
sacred historian is — " the Lord being merciful unto him ;" and his 
own acknowledgment testifies — " Thou hast magnified thy mercy, 
which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life ;" thus implying 
a consciousness of having deserved to suffer the penalty escaped. 
The family of Lot consisted of several persons ; but the sacred 

" They call, 
They call you, rover, back again ! 
There is a mound beneath your village spire, 

Where, touched by love, your tears would fall like rain ; 
It shields a holy man, your aged sire, 
Who sought in life to curb your youthful fire, 
Hear his' death call ! 

" In vain ! 
Alas ! you heard not e'en that call ; 
Proudly you stand upon the red man's ground, 
And woman's tears, that slow and silent fall, 
Slighted, from your resolved breast rebound, 
Your free words through the woodland depths resound, 
' Her call is vain !' 

" Farewell 
For ever, roamer of the wild ! 
God, whom you can forget, his own will see ; 

His sun still shines upon his erring child, 
His breezes i'an you with their current free, 
And his green sod your burial-place shall be. 
Oh, fare you well !" 



30 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

record gives no ground to believe that any of the members, except 
the head, partook of the true spirit of religion, or had any love to 
God. His wife, whom some think he had married in Sodom — his 
residence having been there for more than twenty years — was evi- 
dently strongly attached to the luxuries of her home, and showed 
reluctance to quit it, even at the command of the messengers of 
Divine vengeance. The two maiden daughters who escaped the 
destruction of Sodom, had not the fear of God before their eyes, as 
their after conduct manifested. His sons-in-law, who had probably 
married others of his daughters — not particularly mentioned in 
Scripture — paid no heed to his alarmed announcement of impending 
destruction, but treated his words with derision. What a situation 
for the parent whose sensibilities were alive, to be surrounded by 
the thoughtless and hardened, even of his nearest and dearest ! 
The feeling in Lot's nature may have been blunted by much care, 
and desire of gain ; but many moments of bitter anguish must 
have been his, as he saw the gradual corruption, from the contagion 
of evil example, of the youthful hearts he would fain have moulded 
to piety ; as he saw his precepts disregarded, and contemplated the 
moral prospect opening before them. He could not, however, 
resolve to flee from the contamination of the grievous iniquity around 
him, the cry of which had gone up to heaven. His abode was fixed 
in Sodom, and he could not abandon the substance he had gathered. 
He remained ; till the purpose of God was ripe for accomplish- 
ment, and the day of retribution came. 

At the close of even, the patriarch sat in the gate of the city, 
having, perhaps, been occupied in business during the -day, or in 
conversation with some of the principal inhabitants. He saw two 
strangers enter, whose appearance engaged his attention. Not yet 
aware of their supernatural character, and eager to show the hospi- 
tality deemed so sacred a duty in ancient times, he arose to meet 
them, and with a reverential obeisance and with courteous deference 
of manner saluted them, and entreated as a favor that they would 



THE FAMILY OF LOT. 31 

accept the shelter of his roof for the night. They declined, saying 
they would abide all night in the street ; but Lot felt this answer a 
reproach on his hospitality, and pressed thern so earnestly to partake 
of entertainment, that they entered his house and sat down to the 
feast prepared for them. At a late hour, amidst the clamorous cries 
and frantic uproar of the wicked multitude without, the strangers 
bade Lot assemble his family, and gather together whatsoever he 
would carry with him in immediate flight. The iniquity of the 
place is full ; its cry "is waxen great before the face of the Lord ;" 
and the new comers are the commissioned messengers of destruction. 
Lot is not disobedient to the heavenly warning. He hastens to call 
his sons-in-law, informs them of the impending calamity, and urges 
them to lose no time in escaping from the devoted city ; but he 
seems to them " as one that mocked," and they refuse to credit the 
appalling words his lips utter. As they were not of the number 
who escaped, it is reasonable to conclude that they disregarded alto- 
gether his entreaties to save themselves, — convinced only when it 
was too late of the truth of his prediction — and that they perished 
in the wide-spread desolation. 

The remaining hours of night passed in vain remonstrances and 
solicitations, and in preparations for their hurried flight. As the 
dawn glimmered in the east, the celestial visitants warned the fugi- 
tives that no time must be lost. The command to Lot to take his 
wife and the two daughters that were under his roof, might hnply 
that the others, if living, dwelt in homes of their own, and shared 
the stubborn incredulity of their husbands. Still as the father 
lingered, reluctant to leave those who stayed to certain death, his 
companions seized his hand and the hand of those who followed 
him, and drawing them with merciful force from the scene of strug- 
gle, led them forth, stopping not till they were without the gate. 
" Escape for thy life," they cried ; " look not behind thee — neither 
stay thou in all the plain ; escape to the mountain, lest thou be 
consumed." 



32 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

Lot feared to flee to the solitude of the mountain. Accustomed 
to live in the midst of human companionship, he clung, in lack of 
full confidence in God, to the protection of his own kind. A city 
was near at hand ; he might be saved the necessity of a long and 
perilous flight ; while unknown evils might await him should he 
plunge into the dreary recesses of those primitive forests. Even in 
the haste and agitation of escape, he turns to the angel to entreat that 
the small city in which he desired to seek refuge may be spared. 
" Is it not a little one ?" the inhabitants are few, and the burden of 
their iniquity cannot be so grievous as here ; it is but a small thing 
to be saved, when so many are overwhelmed ! let me escape thither, 
and shun the dangers of an abode, shelterless and defenceless, upon 
the distant mountain ! His pleading prevails ; the voice of the 
avenger, which had pronounced the doom of Sodom and Gomorrah, 
in gracious condescension assures him that his petition is granted, 
and bids him hasten the departure of his family to the spared city. 
As the first beams of the sun kindle the eastern sky, the fugitives 
are hastening, at their utmost speed — not once daring to look back 
— across the cultivated plain. The destruction ready to descend 
with accumulated violence, is held back till they pass beyond its 
reach. As Lot and his daughters, nearly exhausted with fatigue, 
enter the gates of Zoar, the storm of Almighty wrath bursts on the 
plain. Brimstone and fire descend in torrents from the heavens, as 
poured out from the hand of the Infinite Avenger himself. The 
soil, undermined with veins of bitumen and sulphur, is kindled and 
broken up by the streaming flames ; thunders and a terrible quak- 
ing of the earth shake the foundations of the overthrown cities, while 
the fiery flood swallows up the habitations of men ; and amidst the 
awful convulsion of nature, the fierce uproar of the elements, and the 
wail of the dying that goes up as the inundation sweeps the valley — 
the livers overflow their banks, and the waters, rushing together, 
fill the desolated plain. The rich and blooming vale becomes a 
sullen lake, whose heavy and unwholesome waters are impregnated 



THE FAMILY OF LOT. 33 

with the bitterness of the soil, and overhung by murky fogs ; a 
scene of gloomy desolation ; a monument to after ages of the tre- 
mendous catastrophe described in Holy Writ. Malte Brun says 
of the valley of the Jordan — " It offers many traces of volcanoes ; 
the bituminous and sulphurous waters of Lake Asphaltites, the lavas 
and pumice thrown out on its banks, and the warm-bath of Taba- 
riah, show that this valley has been the theatre of a fire not yet 
extinguished. Volumes of smoke are often observed to escape from 
Lake Asphaltites, and new crevices are found on its margin." 

The wife of Lot lingering behind in unwillingness to leave their 
possessions in Sodom, or, as some expositors think, attempting to 
return, — which opinion is favored by the reference of our Saviour to 
the event (St. Luke xvii. 31, 32), was suffocated by the saline and 
sulphurous vapors that loaded the atmosphere, and in the 
picturesque language of Scripture, " became a pillar of salt." The 
father and daughters remained not in Zoar ; for he feared to dwell 
there. Probably the wickedness of the place, and its situation near 
the stagnant lake which covered the district once so beautiful and 
populous, were sufficient grounds for fear ; and it is not unlikely 
that the remembrances of the terrific catastrophe, kept vivid by the 
locality, were to the last degree painful. He sought refuge, with 
the remnant of his family, in a cave on the mountains. 

Early on that fateful morning arose the pious Abraham, and 
betook himself to the elevated place where, the evening previous, 
he had stood before the Lord interceding for the doomed cities., So 
gracious had been the assurance that for the sake even of ten 
righteous persons Sodom should be • spared, if they were found 
therein — that some hope lingered in his heart that the city in which 
dwelt the family of his beloved kinsman might have escaped 
the general destruction. With anxiety strongly mingled with fear, 
but tempered by a pervading trust that the Judge of all the earth 
would do right, he hastened to the spot commanding a view of all 
the land of the plain. What a sight met his gaze ! The level 

2* 



34 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

beams of the sun were stifled in thick clouds of sulphurous vapor ; 
the roar of the fiery storm was still heard, as the smoke of the country, 
like the smoke vi a furnace, ascended to blot out the face of the sky. 
But amidst the terror of this appalling sight, the soul of the patriarch 
was comforted ; for he knew God had remembered his prayers, and 
had saved from death those whom he loved. 

How suggestive is this history — how full of solemn lessoning ! 
We see the family of a righteous man transplanted from its proper 
and genial associations of virtue, and growing up in the midst of 
corruption ; we see him vexed in soul from day to day by the 
enormities j>ractised around him, yet lacking resolution to lose all 
for conscience sake : hoping to shield those dear to him from the 
wickedness besetting them on every side, and to keep pure the 
atmosphere of his home, — or mourning that the contamination has 
crossed his guarded threshold. The decree of punishment goes 
forth ; and just were it that the innocent, in circumstances like 
these, should perish with the guilty. But mercy arrests the uplifted 
sword. The accumulated vengeance cannot descend — the destroying 
arm must delay to strike, till Lot has escaped. The visible interpo- 
sition of God's messengers snatches him and his family from ruin ; 
for his sake, the fiery destruction passes by the spot whither he flies 
for refuge. Does not the scene impressively teach how precious in 
the sight of the Lord are the lives of those who obey Him ! If 
angels must be sent to save the one family in a nation of sinners, 
whose head is a man of prayer — feeble though his faith may be — 
how shall the protecting care and goodness of God cease to abide 
with the least of his saints ! 



V. 

ISAAC. 

BY REV. G. W. BETHUNE, D.D. 

The life of Isaac, apart from the history of his father and that of 
his sons, has few passages of much interest ; yet the character of 
Isaac is eminently beautiful and instructive. Without any of that 
selfish ambition which seeks aggrandizement at the expense of others, 
or that feverish restlessness which craves continual excitement, or 
that zealous irritability which fires at every semblance of affront, or 
that revengeful tenacity which contends for the shadow of right, he 
lived retired from public gaze in the bosom of his family and the 
fellowship of his God. 

He was a man of strong affections. An only son, and much 
caressed by his parents, their indulgent tenderness seems only to 
have fed the flame of his filial piety. With respectful and confiding 
obedience, he accompanied his father to the mountain of sacrifice, 
and was bound for death unresistingly, not shrinking even from 
the upraised knife. With sincere and affectionate sorrow he long 
mourned the loss of his doting mother. With deferent and grateful 
humility he received a wife of his father's choice, to a love fond, 
changeless, and undecaying. The welfare of his children was the 
happiness he chiefly sought ; and, although he showed a sinful 
partiality for Esau, his love for Jacob poured itself forth in un- 
bounded blessings. The trials by which he was disciplined were 
those of the affections, for there the divine Chastener saw that the 
strength of his character lay. Isaac, the man of God, was a man of 
love. A strong example that the religion which God approves, 
instead of souring the heart and restraining its charities, denies the 

35 



36 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

appellation of believer to those who do not delight in the recipro- 
cities of familiar and social kindness. Love, the name and character 
of God, is the imitation of their heavenly Father by his intelligent 
children. Love, in its outgoings and extensions, comprises all oui 
duty. He, who made us, gave us to each other, and regards well 
pleased the relations he has ordained between us. He has bound 
the links of affection around our hearts by his own hand. The tie 
which unites us to Him, unites us to all his human family. When 
our hearts are full of love to God, they will gush forth love to our 
fellow-creatures, as surely as waters flow from their higher source to 
bless the plains beneath. Jesus Christ, the Divine Perfection of 
humanity, condensed the ten precepts into Love for God, and Love 
for man for God's sake. His incarnation was an incarnation of 
love. God so loved the world as to send Him ; He so loved the 
world as to come ; and, when He had given that proof of love 
than which there is none greater, — " laying down his life for his 
friends," He left with his people another Comforter as divine as 
himself — the Spirit of love. Jesus loved the world; in one strain of 
affection He rose far above the highest morals of earth-taught 
philosophy— He loved his enemies ; but He loved with peculiar 
tenderness the mother of his human nature, and the chosen com- 
panions of his life. Love was the characteristic that won his 
warmest regard. He loved the zeal of Peter, the industry of James, 
the guilelessness of Nathaniel, but John "rested on his bosom." 
He entered many a house to bless its inmates and accept their 
hospitality, but the homeless One was most at home with Lazarus 
and his sisters. So, while the primitive Church retained the odor 
of the Pentecostal unction, its distinguishing marks were love for the 
world which persecuted them, and especially love for the household 
of faith. What sight on earth so rich in moral beauty as a family 
dwelling together in love, when all have a common weal and a 
common happiness, weeping in each other's grief, rejoicing in each 
other's joy ! Could such love be extended throughout a nation, 



ISAAC. 37 

one brotherhood embracing all its citizens and one interest uniting 
all hearts, how would the beauty of the scene be magnified ! But if 
the world were thus interlinked, and man looked upon man only as 
a member of the same family, fed, sheltered, instructed, and blessed 
by one heavenly Father, would earth lack anything of Paradise ? 
There is such a family, — there is such a world, — 

" For Love is Heaven and Heaven is Love." 

To fit us for that heaven, the Gospel has been sent ;- therefore 
does it hallow the attachment of wedlock, inspire parental devotion 
and filial piety, rivet the golden chain of friendship, and prompt the 
far-reaching aims of philanthropy. He who on earth feels most of 
such sacred love, anticipates most of the heavenly excellence and 
bliss. Never does the Christian rebel more against the law of his 
nature, the law of the moral universe, the law . of his God and 
Saviour, than when he permits enmity or even coldness towards 
others in his heart ; never can he write a worse libel upon the 
character of the faith he professes, than when he refuses to " lay 
aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envyings, and 
evil-speakings ;" and especially when those hellish mischiefs work 
in the church of God, or the family. If Charity begin not at home, 
how can she go forth into the world 1 Where love rules not, God 
does not dwell. 

The character of Isaac at home was his character abroad. He 
was a man of peace. He preferred peace above all worldly pos- 
sessions, and for peace he was willing to give up everything 
but principle. He digged one well ; but when the herdsmen of 
Gerar strove for it, he called it Esek (contention), and left it to 
them. He digged another ; they strove for it also ; he called it 
Sitnah (hatred), and left it also to them. The God of peace 
honored his forbearance, and by the waters of Rehohoth (space) he 
found room and quiet. 



38 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

This the world would call mean-spiritedness and cowardice ; but 
God approved and rewarded it, " for the fruit of peace is sown 
of them that make peace." Such will ever be the conduct of the 
true Christian. He will rather yield his rights than his serenity, 
and submit to wrong rather than contend. • It is the instinct of the 
brute to seek revenge ; it is God-like to forgive. They took from 
our beloved Master all, even his life, adding insult and torture to the 
robbery, yet He prayed for them with his last breath. Alas ! how 
few Isaacs there are among us now ; and how much more do we 
love to linger near the waters of Esek and Sitnah, than to seek a 
Rehoboth in the providence of God ! How much might we do for 
God and his cause in the time we lose contending with men for our 
own ! Surely the Divine glory should be most precious in our 
estimation ; and God will take care of ou?'s, while we devote our- 
selves to taking care of His. 

There is, indeed, an extent to which we may carry such passive 
endurance of wrong, which, like all other extremes, becomes censur- 
able. The allowance of gross, palpable injustice against ourselves, 
without an endeavor to bring the offender under rebuke of the law 
he has violated, may be to betray the rights of the community, to 
endanger social peace, and to foster crime ; the yielding of our lives 
when assailed by a brutal assassin, without attempting defence, is an 
unfaithful abandoning of a treasure committed to our keeping by 
God himself ; yet, even in these cases, we should act from conviction 
of duty, not the fury of anger or vengeance. 

Neither should the proper defence of truth be ever abandoned on 
the plea of peace. The love of true peace, which flows only from 
true religion, will prompt every true believer earnestly to contend 
for "the faith once delivered to the saints." While there never 
should be enmity against the errorist, there never should be truce 
with error. To dream of peace, while false doctrines abound, 
" leading men's souls to perdition," is to deceive ourselves, by crying 
u Peace ! peace ! when there is no peace." It may be observed. 



ISAAC. 39 

that none are so anxious for the silence of those who hold established 
truth as those most busy in spreading new or revived heresies. 
Busy themselves in sowing error, they demand that all others shall 
sleep in silence, on pain of being denounced as disturbers of the 
Church. No matter how bold the attack which they make on 
doctrines dear to our own and our fathers' hearts, we are accused of 
persecution, or, at least, illiberality, if we resist the inroad. Nothing- 
can be more unfair. The one who introduces occasion of offence is 
guilty of breaking the peace ; and he, who alarms the honest fears 
of the Church for the purity of her doctrines, has upon his conscience 
the shame of her discord. 

If the matter in dispute be so unimportant as not to justify 
defence, it does not justify attack, and it is worse than idle to 
agitate the minds or consciences of others by unnecessary specula- 
tions. How should the controversialist, who has risked his 
standing upon novel doctrines, complain if his standing shares the 
fate of his innovation ? If he had succeeded, he would have added 
to his fame ; he must not murmur if he experiences the reverse. 
We are bound by the highest obligations never to yield the princi- 
ples of our faith. Our zeal in defence should even outwork the 
errorist in attack. Yet should no bitterness against those whom 
God will judge, sully our zeal for his truth ; and in most cases an 
earnest didactic spread of truth is the best polemical method, 
offensive and defensive, against error. The truth is never well 
spoken except when spoken in love. We may win our erring- 
brother with kindness, but must make him only more obstinate if 
we take him by the throat. Religious controversy is necessary 
while error lasts, but is acceptable to God and profitable to man, 
only when love for the souls of men is its motive. The moment 
rancor takes the place of charity, the devil is sure of triumph, 
whichever side gains the victory. 

Isaac was a man of meditation ; we find him at eventide walking 
forth to meditate in the field. He chose that tranquil hour and 



40 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

secluded walk to give his thoughts a solemn, devout direction ; 
amidst the works of nature he held communion with his God. 
The incident enforces a duty and privilege too often neglected by 
Christians. Pious meditation is enjoined by precept and example 
throughout the Scriptures. " how I love thy law !" says the 
Psalmist ; " it is my meditation all the day long ;" and, speaking 
of the blessed saint, who is like the ever green and fruitful tree, 
"planted by the rivers of water," he declares that he meditates 
upon the law of God both " day and night." So our divine Master, 
pressed as he was by cares and merciful duties, found sweet com- 
fort and strength in retirement for this sacred purpose. On the 
other hand, the reason assigned for the ignorance of God in those 
who have the means of knowledge, is, that they " do not consider." 

The importance of meditation is readily seen when we remember 
that the food of the Christian is truth, which must be digested as well 
as received. If forethought and retrospect be necessary for the 
business of this life, how much more must it be for the life to 
come ! What is faith but the application and appropriation of 
truth to ourselves ? What is repentance but a sorrowful review of 
past sin, and a careful determination of our future course ? What 
is hope but an enjoyment by anticipation of the blessed promise ? 
Is self-examination necessary ? We cannot go through the salutary 
process but by meditation. Is it our duty to rule our conduct by 
the law of God ? We cannot do so without meditation ; neither 
can we otherwise feel the constraining influence of Christ's law to 
holy devotedness. 

It is to the neglect of this duty that the Christian may trace 
many of his wants and difficulties. He often complains that he 
cannot keep his thoughts from wandering, and that his heart is cold 
in prayer ; yet, perhaps, he has entered his closet, and, after a 
hurried reading of a little Scripture, knelt before God without pre- 
paration for the difficult exercise of communing with the heart- 
searching and inscrutable One. He has not reminded himself by 



ISAAC. 41 

meditation of the service he wishes to perform. He pronounces the 
words of adoration, but he does not feel their power, because he 
has not meditated on the character, the perfections, and presence of 
God. He uses phrases of confession, but he has not reviewed his 
conduct that he might remind himself of his sins. He only begins 
and his mind labors to recall the mercies he has enjoyed, while the 
terms of thanksgiving are on his lips ; and he asks for future bless- 
ings, though he has omitted to inquire of his heart what the graces 
are that he needs. No wonder that his thoughts wander. Five 
minutes of prayer, made intelligent by five minutes of meditation, is 
worth an hour of attempted prayer without such a preface. No 
wonder that he has doubts concerning Scriptural truth, while he 
reads the Scriptures without meditating on their meaning ! One 
verse well digested is worth a chapter superficially glanced over. 
No wonder that he is betrayed into sin and hesitates as to his duty, 
when he has not meditated on his probable temptations and the 
claims of Providence ! No wonder that he gains no benefit from the 
exercises of the sanctuary, when he has neither prepared his mind 
by previous meditation, nor by subsequent reflection impressed upon 
his soul the lessons he heard ! No wonder that he grows not in 
grace, while he gives his thoughts carefully to his temporal concerns, 
and fences in no hour for holy thoughts alone ! Sweet is the season 
and the scene of such pious meditation ! Angels hover around us 
then, and heavenly voices whisper to our hearts, as we bathe our 
spirits in the clear wells of truth, freshening their wings for an 
upward flight. 

Isaac was a man of retirement. Abraham was distinguished by 
bold enterprise ; Jacob, by active and persevering industry ; but 
Isaac lived remote from bustle and brilliant exhibitions ; yet was 
he dear to the Lord, and the God of Abraham and Jacob was the 
God of Isaac also. He pleased his God, and ripened for heaven at 
home in the circle of his household. Prominence of station and 
parade of notoriety are far from necessary to a life of piety and 



42 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

usefulness. To comply faithfully with the duties of om> lot, 
whatever that may be, is the requisition which God makes of 
his believing servants. It is not for the praise of men that we 
areto live, though we should so live that they may glorify our 
Master; but the eye of God can see us in the humblest walks 
and the most secluded sphere of duty. On the day of divine retri- 
bution, when shame and everlasting contempt will be poured upon 
the laurelled conqueror and the world-applauded hypocrite, the 
angels of heaven will delight to honor, as favorites of their king, 
many who have lived unknown, it may be despised by men. If 
God, by his providence, bid us " Come up higher !" we are not to 
shrink from the prominence ; but until then we should not crave the 
excitement of a public theatre, nor murmur that our lot is low or 
our influence apparently small. If we will but faithfully inquire, 
we shall find plenty of work laid to our hand, and whatever our 
hands find to do we are to do with our might. The sphere which 
God assigns to us is that where we may best serve him, and there 
we are most safe. In our families, in the circle of our neighborhood, 
we may fill up all our time with obedient usefulness, and the God 
of Israel will own us, if we be faithful, in the day of revelation. 

Especially should this theme be commended to the hearts of 
Christian women. There are some, who weakly and wickedly 
impugn the wisdom of Providence which has inhibited them the 
more prominent and notorious occupations of masculine engage- 
ments. It is not the more remarkable, that are the more important 
virtues in the estimation of God. The highest office ever intrusted 
by God to one of our sinful race, was hers, who, as the spouse of a 
poor man, in their quiet home amidst the hills of Judea, led with a 
mother's hand the Jesus of his people up to manhood. The piety 
of the two faithful women who nursed young Timothy and fed his 
growing soul with the bread of life, has exerted a more extensive 
and salutary influence upon the world, than all the princes who ever 
won the acclamations of the populace. What office so high and 



ISAAC. 43 

holy as that which moulds by divine grace, the character of childhood 
in the image of God ! What duty so necessary, as the embellish- 
ment of home and household with domestic peace and familiar 
piety ! If ever woman deserves the name of Angel, it is when she 
is the guardian spirit of the earthly Rest that remains for man 
wearied and harassed by the bustle of the gross external world — 
then is she, indeed, a messenger sent to earth with blessed presages 
of heaven. Man, with all his physical strength and rugged faculties, 
is little worth, without the inspiring grace and constancy of woman's 
power. Her hand must buckle on his armor for the conflict, her 
hand cheer his fainting spirit, her hand bind up his wounds, her 
smile be the guerdon of his behest; and if his mere sinewy 
prowess win the victory, more than half the glory belongs to her. 
Nay, there is more genuine heroism, more generous valor in her 
patient endurance, her faithful watchings by the bed of the helpless, 
her quiet devotedness to the comfort of others, than in all the feats 
of arms which heraldic chivalry has ever blazoned. Her resigned 
submission to not unfrequent tyranny from a brutal husband, that, 
peradventure, she may win back to honor and religion him whom 
all besides has abandoned, but to whom she clings with a love 
which no unkindness can change, and even crime cannot divorce, 
has in it more than the firmness of the martyr who sings amidst the 
brief pangs of the fatal flame. He suffers before the crowd an 
affliction which, compared to hers, is " light and but for a moment." 
She suffers long under the eye of God alone. She often drinks a 
fearfully bitter cup, but she will share the joy of Him who drank 
the cup of trembling for us. Oh ! let woman see to it that our 
homes be holy, and the world will lose half its sin ! 

Isaac was a man of affliction. His retirement was no retreat 
from sorrow. He could not escape the lot of man — the wages of 
sin ; but grace turned his trials into a discipline more precious than 
the refining of gold. His spirit, humbled as it was, was not pure. 
It needed the persecutions of men to teach him that earth was not 



44 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

his rest, and the troubles of his own household bade him not lean 
even upon the most beloved of creatures. " He learned obedience," 
like his holy Lord, "by the things that he suffered." The disciple 
of the Man of Sorrows must expect His baptism of tears. 

" The path of sorrow, and that path alone, 
Leads to the land where sorrows are unknown." 

We cannot escape sorrow by shrinking from duty. We may be 
tempted to fly from our external trials by secluding ourselves from 
the world which we are bound to serve ; but God can send into our 
very families as He did into that of Isaac, what will be to us " a 
grief of mind." The best comfort in trial is to know that We have 
met it in the way of duty; for then we have the assurance of our 
heavenly Father's faithfulness, the sympathy of our once suffering 
Lord, and the promise of that heaven where pious sorrow will be 
overpaid by everlasting joy. God's love is first to fill our hearts, 
and then every other affection will be blessed in the holy atmosphere ; 
but upon nothing less than the Infinite should our hearts be set, for 
there is nothing steadfast but God, nothing certain but His will, 
and nothing satisfying but his favor. 



vi. ■ 

JACOB. 

BY REV. HENRY FIELD. 

The life of Jacob abounds in incident ; it is full of lights and 
shadows. His domestic history is not altogether happy. A succes- 
sion of family quarrels and feuds embittered a great part of his life. 
Hated by his brother — forced when a young man to fly for his life 
— an exile from home for twenty years — and then falling out with 
his father-in-law — and, subsequently, the contentions of his children, 
the loss of his wife, and the violent death, as he supposed, of his 
favorite child — were the dark passages of his life. His dream — his 
early love — his reconciliation with Esau — his recovery of Joseph — 
are the brighter portions of his history. The impression becomes 
more pleasing as the narrative advances. His character is seen to 
be purified by suffering, and to be exalted by the habitual exercise 
of religious faith ; and at last his sun goes down in peace. 

The unhappiness of Jacob's life was owing partly to his own 
selfish and ungenerous disposition, and partly to that favoritism of a 
weak and partial mother, which has spoiled so many sons. 

Esau and Jacob were twins. They were the only children of their 
parents. Nature had united them more closely than most brothers, 
yet their dispositions were opposite, and their course of life totally 
different. Esau was a man of great activity and daring, a bold 
hunter. Jacob was more timid, and fond of nestling by his mother's 
side. The fearlessness of Esau naturally attracted the admiration 
and fondness of his father, while Jacob was the mother's boy. This 
difference of disposition is indicated in a few words : " Esau was a 
cunning hunter, a man of the field ; and Jacob was a plain man, 

45 



46 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his 
venison ; but Rebekah loved Jacob." 

Favoritism on the part of parents towards one child produces 
almost inevitably jealousy and discord in the family. Esau, perhaps, 
despised his brother as a timid man, staying at home and attending 
to affairs of the kitchen ; while Jacob was envious of Esau that he 
had the birthright. This envy and discontent of Jacob were 
fostered by the injudicious fondness of his mother. Rebekah loved 
her son, but she took the direct course to spoil him ; to ruin his 
disposition and his happiness. She was not a woman of strict inte- 
grity. Her principle easily yielded to her affection, and she encou- 
raged her child in meanness and deception. 

The sons grew up together to the age of twenty-five years, when 
the eager and ungenerous spirit of Jacob led him on one occasion to 
take advantage of his brother, when he was fainting with hunger, to 
get possession of the birthright. This act probably did not increase 
the affection of the brothers. But it was followed by one still 
worse — an act of direct deception and falsehood — by which Jacob got 
away his father's blessing. We are not of the number of those who 
think that reverence for the Scriptures requires them to apologize 
for or extenuate every bad action of a good man. Fidelity to truth 
requires us to see things as they are, and to speak of them as they 
deserve. We are to paint vice so as to excite indignation against it. 
This conduct of Jacob was most base and unnatural. History 
hardly presents a crime more utterly without apology or excuse 
than that of this young man, standing at the bedside of his blind 
old father, with his hands and the smooth of his neck covered with 
goat skins to aid his deception, and telling a deliberate lie, and that 
too for the purpose of defrauding his own brother ! 

This conduct was bitterly punished. It produced an instant rup- 
ture with his brother, and brought upon him a series of misfortunes 
which lasted the greater part of his life. Such selfishness needed 
the salutary discipline of suffering. A long exile from home must 



JACOB. 47 

have made liim often reflect with bitterness on his duplicity and 
fraud. In his sad and solitary hours, and, later in life, in his distress 
at the conduct of his children, he must often have reproached him- 
self for his conduct to his father and brother. 

This early history of Jacob, though the least pleasing part of his 
life, is perhaps the most instructive. It shows how jealousy and 
ambition may invade even the simple life of patriarchs and shep- 
herds. The same passions destroyed their peace, which ruin the 
happiness of families at this day. Their domestic history is to us 
almost as much a warning as an example. 

Esau and Jacob were alienated from each other by the un- 
wise treatment of their parents. Their enmity and separation, which 
lasted twenty years, was the consequence of favoritism in the family. 
The trickery and lying of Jacob, encouraged by a mother whose 
affection outran her principle, stirred up a deadly feud between 
these brothers, so tenderly united by nature, which was not healed 
till years after, when that mother was in her grave. 

Happily adversity was more useful to Jacob than maternal fond- 
ness ; and the sufferings which he had now to experience, will present 
us a nobler character, and more happy scenes in after years. 

After his cruel fraud upon Esau, Jacob was no longer safe in his 
father's house. He saw in the countenance of his brother a deadly 
hatred, which the presence of their parents alone restrained. His 
mother became alarmed for the consequences of her own folly, and 
sent him off secretly to his uncle in Mesopotamia. 

Behold then a young pilgrim, with his staff in hand, stealing 
away from the tent of Isaac, and becoming a wanderer on the wide 
world ! His course lay towards Padan-aram, a distance of four hun- 
dred and fifty miles, across a wild, uninhabited country. Alone he 
crosses the desert, thinking bitterly as he goes of his selfishness and 
deceit, so justly punished. What had he gained by his dishonesty ? 
Perhaps some advantage of property, if he should live to enjoy it 



48 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

But he had banished himself from all whom he loved on earth, and 
become a wanderer and an exile. 

Gradually, perhaps, the new scenes which met his eye as he 
approached Mesopotamia, beguiled his thoughts and raised his 
dejected spirits. At night the brilliancy of the heavens, as they 
shone down upon the desert, made him forget his troubles. It was 
after sunset one day when he arrived at a place suitable for him to 
spend the night. He had no shelter. A stone served for his pillow. 
But extreme weariness made him forget his hard bed, and he fell 
into a tranquil slumber ; when lo ! a dream opened to him a glimpse 
of his future career. " And he dreamed : and behold a ladder set up 
on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven : and behold the 
angels of God ascending and descending upon it. And behold the 
Lord stood above it, and said : " I am the Lord God of Abraham 
thy father, and the God of Isaac : the land whereon thou liest to 
thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the 
dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to 
the east, and to the north and to the south ; and in thee and in thy 
seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I 
am with thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee 
again into this land ; for I will not leave thee, until I have done 
that which I have spoken to thee of." 

If we might allegorize this dream, we might regard it as a symbol 
of religion ; the opening to the mind of a spiritual world. " A door 
is opened in heaven." Faith commands the visible and invisible 
worlds. It takes away that sense of loneliness which man has 
in the present world. It opens in him a new sense to discern that 

" Millions of spiritual beings walk the earth 
Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep." 

These blessed spirits now fill the air. They brush past us in the 



JACOB. 49 

twilight, and in the stillness of meditation their voices are almost 
audible. 

Life is a different thing to a man, after he has learned the 
universal presence of God. The trees and flowers are different, 
since they now appear as the buddings forth, not of unconscious 
nature, but as the unfolding beauty of an Infinite Spirit, who per- 
vades nature and gives it life. The brooks and hills, the valleys and 
mountains and stars, wear a new beauty to him who sees God in 
them all. " To him the Universe is a temple ; and life one con- 
tinued act of adoration." 

When Jacob awoke, " he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is 
this place ! This is none other but the House of God, and this is 
the gate of heaven !" He erected a monument on the desert, which 
became thenceforth a landmark in his history. This celestial 
apparition and voice appear to have made a deep impression on his 
mind, and to have been the date of the commencement of that 
earnest, religious life, for which he was afterwards so much distin- 
guished. In all his wanderings after, he was supported by faith in 
a Power above him. " He endured as seeing Him who is invisible." 

The unhappiness of Jacob is now relieved by the most pleasing 
circumstance of his early life, — his attachment to his beautiful cousin 
Rachel. Their first interview shows the simplicity and innocence of 
the manners of that age. 

A rural scene presents itself, — men and women tending their 
flocks in the open air. The occupation of a shepherd was highly 
honorable, being often united with that of a patriarch or a prince. 
A youthful stranger approaches to ask if they know Laban, the son 
of Nahor. They reply, that they know him ; that he is well ; and 
that Rachel, his daughter, is at that moment coming with the sheep. 
" And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father's 
sheep : for she kept them. And it came to pass, when Jacob saw 
Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of 
Laban his mother's brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the 



50 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flocks of Laban his 
mother's brother. And Jacob kissed Rachel and lifted up his voice, 
and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, 
and that he was Rebekah's son : and she ran and told her father." 
Laban received Jacob with the same cordiality as his daughter. " He 
ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought 
him to his house." 

Here Jacob stayed, enjoying the hospitality of his uncle, for a 
month. At the end of that time Laban proposed to give him 
employment at regular wages. Jacob replied by proposing to serve 
seven years for Rachel, Laban's younger daughter. If he had come 
to sue for her hand with a train of servants, and camels laden with 
presents, as Abraham's servant came to seek for a wife for Isaac, his 
courtship might not have been long. But Jacob was alone, without 
servants or presents, and had to make his ' way in the affections of 
both father and daughter by his own merit and industry. 

The long term of service was rendered light by his attachment to 
her who was to be his reward. The whole story of love is told in 
one verse : " Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed 
unto him but a few days for the love he had to her." What inno- 
cent joy he received as he tended the flocks of Laban in company 
with his beautiful shepherdess, as they drove them to some quiet 
valley to graze, or led them to the well to drink, or collected them 
in the fold at night. 

After serving seven years, Jacob was cruelly disappointed on his 
wedding night hi having the elder sister Leah substituted in place 
of his appointed bride. Rachel was finally given to him as his wife, 
but he was compelled to serve for her seven years more. The 
cunning and duplicity which he had practised years before on his 
brother Esau, God now punished by making him suffer from the 
miserly temper of Laban, a man more cunning and unscrupulous 
than- himself. Laban was Rebekah's brother. The family was not 
remarkable for principle or conscientiousness. Rebekah aided in 



JACOB. 51 

deceiving Isaac, to advance the interests of her favorite child ; and 
that same child was afterwards defrauded by Laban, her own 
brother. Such is the retribution which overtakes deceit and false- 
hood even in this world. 

At length Jacob found that his situation was not altogether 
happy. The avarice of his father-in-law brought their interests into 
frequent collision ; and to get away from strife, Jacob resolved to 
return into his own land. He collected his cattle. His sons and 
his wives were mounted on swift camels ; and then the whole 
caravan fled across the desert. Twenty years had elapsed since he 
crossed that region before. Then he was a young man — alone and 
poor. Now he was returning with a large family, and flocks and 
herds. So privately had he stolen away, that it was not until the 
third day after he was gone, that Laban knew of his flight. He 
instantly collected a company among his kinsmen, and set off in 
pursuit. The march of the fugitives was so rapid that it was not 
till after a week's hot chase that Laban and his party overtook 
them. At the close of the seventh day they descried in the distance 
the white tents of Jacob's encampment on Mount Gilead. 

Laban was enraged at the departure of Jacob, from the loss to 
his own interests. But he cloaks his selfish chagrin under a pre- 
tence of affection for his children, and rudely accosts his son-in-law : 
" Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly ; and didst not tell me, 
that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, and 
with tabret, and with harps ? and hast not suffered me to kiss my 
sons and my daughters ? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing." 

Jacob replies by a simple story of the injuries he had received 
from his avaricious father-in-law. Laban was a selfish and hard- 
hearted man ; but he was not without the feelings of a father. His 
heart relented at the tale of his own injustice, and he became 
reconciled on the spot. The father and son made a covenant toge- 
ther. Even Laban gave utterance to a beautiful sentiment at 
parting : " The Lord watch between thee and me, when we are 
absent one from another." 



52 FAMILY PICTURES FEOM THE BIBLE. 

But no sooner is Jacob out of one danger than he is exposed to 
another. He is hardly escaped from his father-in-law before he 
becomes alarmed at the prospect of meeting his brother. He heard 
that Esau is advancing to meet him with four hundred men. In 
this case his conscience reproaches him for having done wrong, and 
increases his apprehension. 

The happiness of his wives and children depended upon his own 
safety, and required him to use every precaution. Jacob acted in 
this danger as a prudent and a pious man. He employed every 
means to avert the impending blow. He sent forward parties with 
presents to conciliate his offended brother. He divided his company 
into two bands, so that if one was cut off, the other might escape. 
After making these dispositions, he sought relief and support in 
prayer. At night he retired apart. The clear heavens were above 
him, calm as on that night when God appeared to him in a dream. 

The morning came, and Jacob's mind was at rest. The first 
sight of the brothers dissipated his fears. Powerful nature overcame 
their little jealousies. " Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, 
and fell on his neck, and kissed him, and they wept." 

Jacob's life now reaches a period of comparative repose. He was 
ao-ain settled in his native land. He saw once more his old father 
Isaac. The care of his large family and of his numerous flocks 
afforded him sufficient occupation. He had attained ample wealth, 
and moved among his descendants with the dignity of a patriarch. 
It is pleasant to contemplate him at this period of his life. His 
silver locks fell over a grave and venerable countenance, which bore 
an expression of tranquillity and religious hope. His years glided 
away in peace. He would have been completely happy but for the 
jealousy which now began to spring up among his children. It is 
easy to understand why he loved Joseph more than his other sons. 
Not only was he the child of Rachel, but there was a gentleness 
about him, unlike the rough dispositions of his brothers, and a 
magnanimity in striking contrast with their selfish and jealous 



JACOB. 53 

tempers. But this superior goodness, instead of attracting the love, 
excited the hatred of his brothers. It is the spirit of low natures to 
hate any character which is above their own. 

Forty years had passed since his return to his native land, and 
Jacob had become an old man, even in that age of patriarchs, when 
the mysterious disappearance of Joseph came to add a last pang to 
the sorrows of his life. A bleak, desolate existence followed durino- 
the years that he supposed him dead. It was not till a famine 
drove his sons into Egypt to buy corn, that he discovered the fact 
that his long lost son was still alive, and at the head of a powerful 
empire. The news that Joseph was alive was to Jacob like a 
resurrection from the dead. At first he could not believe it, and his 
heart fainted. But " when he saw the wagons which Joseph had 
sent to carry him," his spirit revived, and he said, " It is enough, 
Joseph my son is yet alive, I will go and see him before I die." 

The meeting of Jacob and Joseph is a beautiful subject for an 
artist. History presents nothing more touching. " Joseph made 
ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel, his father, to Goshen, 
and presented himself to him, and he fell on his neck, and wept on 
his neck a good while. And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me 
die, since I have seen thy face, because thou art yet alive." 

The last years of Jacob's life were the happiest. He lived in 
Egypt in honor seventeen years. He was introduced into the 
presence of Pharaoh, before whom he appeared as representative of 
another generation. Touched with his venerable aspect, the 
monarch asked him his age. " The days of the years of my 
pilgrimage," answered Jacob, "are an hundred and thirty years. 
Few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have 
not attained unto the days of the years of the 'life of my fathers in 
the days of their pilgrimage." 

To render the old man's happiness complete, he saw all his 
family collected together again, and Ins children reconciled to each 
other. This affection continued after his death. Joseph's brethren 



54 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

feared that, when their father was gone, they should experience 
harsh treatment from him to whom they had showed no kindness. 
But their generous brother wept when the fear was mentioned to 
him. He forgave them all, and stilled their self-reproach by saying, 
" Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good." 

The closing scene of the patriarch's life was affecting. Jacob 
knew that he must die, and the strong affection for his country 
which often visits old men, made him request, as a last favor, to be 
buried in his native land. 'He wished that his ashes might repose 
with those of his fathers, that they might be united in death ! He 
called his son Joseph to his bedside, and said to him, " Bury me not, 
I pray thee, in Egypt. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou 
shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place." 
Joseph promised to execute faithfully the dying request of his father, 
to transport his body to the cave of Machpelah, to repose by the side 
of the bodies of Abraham and Isaac. 

There stood around that death-bed all the sons of Jacob, the 
fathers of twelve mighty nations, and he foretold their history. 
Memorable predictions ! which have been verified in the fate of that 
strange people, whose character and position among the nations are 
a wonder to this day. - . 



VII. 
THE FAMILY OF MOSES. 

The lustre of the public life of Moses lias thrown into the shade 
the more private and domestic portions of his history. Besides, this 
has little connexion with the great design of the Sacred Record, and 
is therefore briefly passed over. But the qualities exhibited in the 
administration of the great lawgiver also illustrate the character of 
the exemplary founder of a family. His disregard of self, and abso- 
lute devotion to the will of God — the kindly and generous affections 
which appear in many of his actions, his influence over others, and 
capacity to rule and guide them — his firmness and judgment, 
blended with a meekness that precluded motives of interest or ambi- 
tion — all qualified him to fill with honor and usefulness a sphere 
more limited, as well as he filled the elevated place of lawgiver to 
the chosen people. It may not be profitless, therefore, to dwell on 
the outline given of liis personal history. 

The accession of a new monarch in Egypt, by whom the eminent 
services of Joseph were forgotten, brought into rigorous bondage the 
race of strangers, who, -at first guests in the land, had increased and 
multiplied so as to become formidable to its governors. The policy 
adopted to diminish their numbers and crush their spirit — that of 
forcing them to labor in building cities, and in all manner of hard 
service, oppressing them with taskmasters, who exacted toil beyond 
their strength — having failed in its object, the bloody edict was 
issued for the destruction of all their male children, and the 
execution of the decree was committed to the king's servants. 
Amidst the terrors of this law, which none dared resist, the wife of 
Amram, a descendant of Levi, bore a son, whose existence she con- 

55 



56 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

cealed three months from the executioner of the barbarous edict. 
When she could hide him no longer, she committed her cherished 
child to the mercy of God, in faith, as we are informed, leaving the 
event in the hands of a wisdom greater than her own. In his ark 
of bulrushes, laid among the flags on the river's brink, the child was 
found and adopted by a prince *s, who, at the suggestion of his sister 
Miriam, employed the mother to nurse the infant. Some of the 
ancient classic fables in which the idea of immutable destiny is pro- 
minent — a destiny against which the short-sighted will of mortals 
struggles in vain, bringing about the accomplishment by efforts to 
avert what is impending — might have been suggested by this sim- 
ple but picturesque history. Rabbinical tradition represents the 
Egyptian king mysteriously warned of one among the Hebrews, 
who was to bring his power to the dust, and achieve deliverance and 
greatness for his own people. Although nothing in the Scripture 
narrative sanctions such a belief, the vague dread cherished by the 
tyrant of the growing strength of the nation held in slavery and 
rendered hostile by oppression — is particularly mentioned. In the 
hope and expectation of soon cutting short the race, he takes into 
his household the very person appointed for the work of deliverance, 
and causes him to be trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. 
It appears that some consciousness of his own high destiny was in 
the mind of Moses from his youth. His rank, favor at court, and 
the brilliant prospects open to ambition, were deliberately renounced 
by him when he had reached the age of manhood. He observed 
the sunken and servile condition of the seed of Abraham ; his heart 
went forth to those poor toiling slaves, and he determined to cast 
his lot among them. He chose " to suffer affliction with the people 
of God " rather than live the favorite of a monarch, the heir of 
honors and wealth and power, among the proud and idolatrous. 
His generous choice made, and, probably, the impulse of his divine 
mission upon him, one day while witnessing the sufferings of his 
brethren, he was moved by indignation to slay an Egyptian for some 



THE FAMILY OF MOSES. 57 

cruelty exercised upon one of the slaves. The Hebrews showing 
little gratitude for his interference and courage in avenging their 
wrongs — and his secret reaching the ears of Pharaoh, from whom 
he could expect no indulgence after so daring a crime — the new-born 
hopes of Moses for his people were extinguished. They had grown, 
he . reasoned, servile in spirit as well as in condition, and would 
rather sacrifice than support one who should rise up in their 
defence. 

After the failure of his enterprise, Moses fled from Egypt, an exile 
from the country of his birth, and wandered alone among the roving 
tribes in the land of Midian. He had left all his hopes behind, and 
nad now no aim nor purpose save to escape from persecution and 
danger. He sits by a well where the herdsmen come to draw water 
for their flocks, wearied with the journey of the day, under the 
parching sun of that climate. The daughters of the priest or prince 
of Midian come to draw water ; a circumstance which presents a 
curious picture of primitive customs. It is likely that the scarcity 
of water in those sandy regions was at times very great ; for the 
women, while drawing for their father's flock, are driven away by 
the shepherds, probably the followers of some neighboring chief, who 
come with the same purpose to the well. The lonely stranger takes 
their part, helps them against the intruders, and gives water to their 
flock. They inform their father of the good turn done them by the 
Egyptian, and Moses accepts the hospitable invitation to take up his 
abode with Reuel, and serve him in the humble capacity of a shep- 
herd. He is joined to him more closely by marriage with his 
daughter Zipporah ; and in process of time sees his children around 
him. Moses appears to have been happy in this new mode of life ; 
he "was content," notwithstanding the ease and splendor of his 
early years ; for his mind was no longer distracted by the scenes 
passing daily before his eyes. Of the character of Zipporah we 
know little ; but from what is related of her, we may infer that she 
was in mind and heart not unworthy the choice of the future law- 

3* 



58 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

giver. Her prompt action to avert the displeasure of the Lord, 
when it was awakened against Moses for his neglect of a solemn 
ordinance, indicates both understanding and feeling ; and when it is 
intimated, in the narrative of the twelfth chapter of Numbers, that 
she had become an object of jealous dislike to Miriam and Aaron, — 
by whom her Ethiopian or Arabian origin is charged against her — 
we cannot but suppose her occupying a position of dignity and 
influence. There is no intimation given that Moses ever married 
any other woman. 

In his children he was more fortunate than his brother Aaron, 
whose sons perished for their desecration of sacred things in the per- 
formance of religious rites. The eldest son of Moses was called 
Gershom, " for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land ;" 
the younger Eliezer, in remembrance of his providential deliverance 
from the sword of Pharaoh. Thus he remembered his exile, and 
the power which had saved him from death in Egypt ; but during 
the forty years that passed while he kept the flock of his father-in- 
law, his ambition seemed bounded by the deserts and mountains 
among which he led his herds for pasturage. The zeal of the 
patriot, which had once burned in his bosom, no longer impelled 
him to rash acts of bravery. The oppressions of his countrymen, 
still sending up to heaven a cry by reason of their cruel bondage, 
seem to have gone from the recollection of Moses, while he was as 
entirely forgotten by them. The strength and enthusiasm of his 
youth had passed away in the natural course of human life ; and 
the approach of old age, for even allowing the then proportion of 
life's duration he was an old man — found him still in the obscurity 
of a simple shepherd. The period of his stay in Midian may be said 
to comprise the whole of his life as the head of a 'family ; for amid 
the cares of his public position, his whole time and attention were 
occupied with his duties to the nation over which he was placed. 
These forty years embrace what is usually the most active and 
useful portion of existence. Moses was not summoned to his great 



THE FAMILY OF MOSES. 59 

vMk till . after they had expired — perhaps that he might learn 
dependence, not on his own sufficiency, but the help of Omnipo- 
tence. It is evident that he had abandoned the patriotic hope he 
once cherished, from his answer to the Deity on the first announce- 
ment of his gracious intention — " Who am I, that I should go unto 
Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of 
Egypt ?" — and from his sinful reluctance to undertake the mission 
(Exodus iv. 13), even when assured of support. 

The years of his shepherd life were undoubtedly the happiest, 
although alienated from his people, and forgetful of the covenant 
sealed with Abraham. He was " content" to dwell in this seclusion 
and servitude, ignorant alike of the toils and rewards of a higher 
service. The peace o£ those desert borders of Arabia was not likely 
to be invaded by foreign foes ; the lowly herdsman has no more to 
do with the strife of individuals or nations ; his family is growing up 
in his home, and his spirit of adventure has long since given place 
to a love of quiet and domestic security. Leading the flock of his 
father-in-law for pasturage across- the desert to a mountainous 
district between two forks of the Red Sea, he arrives at the mountain 
afterwards consecrated by the name of "the Mountain of God." In 
these solitudes the presence of Deity is manifested to him, and he 
receives the commission to go forth as the appointed deliverer and 
leader of Israel. He returns to Jethro, his father-in-law, and 
requests permission to visit his brethren in Egypt. It does not 
appear that Jethro has any intimation of his divine mission ; yet he 
expresses no surprise at the sudden resolution, adopted after almost a 
lifetime of contented exile ; his assent and blessing are given, and 
assured of safety from his former enemies, Moses departs for Egypt, 
accompanied by his wife and sons, and bearing the rod of God, the 
instrument of so many miracles, in his hand. The conduct of 
Zipporah at the inn upon the way, where she hastily fulfils the rite 
for the neglect of which Moses stands under the heavy displeasure 



60 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

of the Lord, has been noticed. She was sent back, with her sofl^to 
Midian, probably after the meeting with Aaron in the wilderness. 

The wonders" wrought by Moses, and the mighty events in which 
he became so conspicuous, belong not to the subject under con- 
sideration. When the fame of all that the Lord had done for him 
and for Israel his people, reached the ears of Jethro in his secluded 
dwelling'-place, he set out, with Zipporah and her sons, and journeyed 
into the wilderness, to the Israelitish camp by the Mount of God. 
The renowned leader, at the announcement of the approach of his 
father-in-law and family, went forth to receive them with due respect, 
and conducted them to his tent. How solemn, yet how joyful, must 
have been that meeting ! The change in the fortunes of him who 
from a simple herdsman had risen to be the head of a numerous 
people, their leader in battle, and interpreter of the will of their 
Divine Soveieign, had not changed the affectionate nature which 
still sought its enjoyment in the domestic circle. They sat together 
in the tent — those loved ones united after a long and eventful 
separation — to ask each other of their welfare with an interest that 
lingered on the smallest details, and to recount to one another all 
that had taken place since their parting. This domestic picture, 
one of the most touching and beautiful in the Bible, is the more 
impressive from the contrasts with which it is presented. It is a 
scene of repose and happiness in the midst of a life of action and 
anxiety. The great general and lawgiver, burdened with multiform 
duties involving a nation's destiny, here rests for a space to taste a 
joy the meanest of those who followed him may call his own. The 
strange vicissitudes through which he and his people have passed, 
with the glory that has been revealed, on the one hand the 
mysterious future, dark to mortal eyes, but lighted by the reflection 
of the guiding pillar of fire — the far-shining lamp of faith— on the 
other ; and in the midst the peace which is the fruit of a conscience 
void of offence towards God and man, confidence in intrusting all 



THE FAMILY OF MOSES. 61 

that concerns him individually to the keeping of his Heavenly 
Protector — gratitude for the mercy that has directed the steps of 
those dear to him, and brought them together once more to join 
their praises ! The aged father-in-law hears the wondrous story 
from the lips of Moses, and breaks forth into an ascription of blessing 
to Him who has ransomed Israel. His faith is strengthened : " jNow 
I know," he exclaims, " that the Lord is greater than all gods f. and 
in the plenitude of his joy and thankfulness, he presents a burnt 
offering and sacrifices. Aaron and the elders of Israel partake of 
the holy feast, and celebrate this happy reunion of the family 
circle. 

With the morrow return the duties of the leader and sole judge 
of Israel. An intimation is given of their laborious character, 
when it is said, " The people fetood by Moses from the morning unto 
the evening." The prudence and sagacity of Jethro appear evident 
in the counsel he gives for the appointment of subordinate officers 
for a regular administration in common civil and religious affairs. 
Moses renders respect to his father-in-law by attention to the advice 
so wisely and kindly given. The conduct of both is marked by 
dignified affection in their several relations ; and we admire the 
sympathy of Jethro, and his readiness to enter with interest into the 
affairs of his son-in-law, to support and aid him by his counsel and 
prayers, as well as the respect paid by Moses to " all that he said." 
The visit being ended, the old man returns to his own country, 
leaving the wife and children of Moses at the encampment. 

Nothing more is said of Zipporah, who probably continued with 
the camp, till she is mentioned as being complained of by Miriam 
and Aaron, in their seditious language against the lawgiver, so 
signally rebuked by Divine interposition. "We know not of the 
share she bore in what her husband did, or in the wanderings of 
after years. When the people- lapsed into idolatry in despair of the 
return of Moses from the Mount, or amidst the many terrible scenes 
she must have witnessed, it is pleasing to imagine her steadfast in 



62 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

courage and faith. Probably her death took place long before that 
of Moses, as no mention is made of her, and the great prophet met 
his fate alone upon the mount whence he had the sight of the 
promised land. 

Of the family of Joshua no more is known than may be under- 
stood from his noble declaration — so expressive, so encouraging, and 
so full of significance for all heads of families — " As for me and my 
house, we will serve the Lord." 



VIII. 
JOB AND HIS FAMILY. 

BY REV. M. S. HUTTON, D.D. 

The book of Job affords one of the most interesting pages of 
man's history, not only because he himself is one of the most 
interesting of men, but because the book is of such remote antiquity. 
It is the single and solitary record of its distant times ; the most 
ancient record in the world. Its author was the first inspired writer 
of the sacred volume. He lived before the sacred historian 
Moses was born, and wrote long before the Law was given on 
Mount Sinai. Indeed there is reason to suppose that the Book was 
written prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and, there- 
fore, before the Church of God was formed in the family of Abra- 
ham, and only about six hundred years after the deluge. 

In this light alone it is a most interesting book ; relating to a 
man who lived at a period almost beyond church history, before the 
age of man was shortened to its present brief span ; relating to one 
who was a stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, out of the 
ordinary church line, yet surpassed by none in religious devotion ; 
as a fragment — a most beautiful fragment of patriarchal times, and 
of a patriarchal church, it is unrivalled in interest. 

But it possesses also internal properties which make it invaluable. 
Says a late commentator, in speaking upon this subject, " As a 
mere specimen of composition, apart from all the questions of its 
theological bearings, as the oldest book in the world, as reflecting 
the manners, habits, and opinions of an ancient generation, as illus- 
trating, more than any other book extant, the state of the sciences, 

63 



64 



FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 



the ancient views of astronomy, geology, geography, natural history, 
and the advances made in the arts, this book has a higher Value 
than can be attached tc any other record of the past, and demands 
the profound attention of those who would make themselves familiar 
with the history of the race. The theologian should study it, as an 
invaluable introduction to the volume of inspired truth ; the humble 
Christian, to obtain elevated views of God ; the philosopher, to see 
how little the human mind can accomplish, on the most important 
of all subjects, without the aid of Revelation ; the child of sorrow, to 
learn the lessons of patient submission ; the man of science, to know 
what was understood in the far distant periods of the past ; the man 
of taste, as an incomparable specimen of poetic beauty and sublimity. 
It will teach invaluable lessons to each advancing generation : and 
to the end of time true piety and taste will find consolation and 
pleasure in the study of the book of Job." 

To this he might have added, as not the least of its valuable con- 
tributions, the picture which it affords of family religion and family 
union, under circumstances so different from our own ; a picture, 
the light and shade of which exhibit, with great certainty, the error 
of that theory which advocates the onward progress of society from 
a supposed infantile state. It would puzzle such theorists exceed- 
ingly, to find, even in our day of acknowledged light and civilization, 
after a lapse of nearly four thousand years, either a man more 
exalted in mental or moral qualities than Job, or a picture of family 
religion more delightful and instructive than that which is afforded 
by this book. 

His birth-place and his family connexions are unknown. There 
are six different places in the East, where, it is said, sleep his ashes ; 
and there are also numerous traditions among the Arabs respecting 
him. These things corroborate the idea suggested by the book 
itself — that the residence of the patriarch poet was in the northern 
part of Arabia. 

In his worldly condition, at the time when his story opens, he 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. 65 

was blessed beyond the ordinary lot of men. Says the sacred 
historian, "This man was the greatest of all the men of the East." 
He held the station which at the present day is designated by the 
title of Emir or Sheik, and his mode of hfe was the natural com- 
bination of the pastoral nomadic life of his age and his country with 
the more settled and permanent manner of living which his wealth 
would induce. 

At the period in which we are contemplating him, Job had pro- 
bably reached the age of seventy or eighty ; and, according to the 
length of human life at that time, he was in the full vigor of manly 
strength. To form some estimate of the high esteem which his 
sincere piety and undoubted worth had produced, you have but to 
mark his passage through the streets, as he proceeds to the gates of 
the city, where the people are wont to assemble upon public occa- 
sions, and where the ordinary judicial courts are held, in which it 
was the duty of Job, as Emir or Sheik of his tribe, to preside. He 
himself thus describes it : 

" When I went out to the gate through the city, 
When I prepared my seat in the street, 
The young men saw me and hid themselves ; 
And the aged arose and stood up : s 
The princes refrained talking, 
And laid their hands on their mouth ; 
The nobles held their peace, 

And their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. 
When the ear heard me, then it blessed me, 
And when the eye saw me it gave witness to me. 
Unto me men gave ear and awaited, 
And kept silence at my counsel ; 
After my words they spake not again ; 
And my speech dropped upon them : 
And they waited for me, as for the rain." 

It is not, however, in his public life that we desire to note his 
character, but in his private relations, as a man, a father, and a 



66 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

head of a family. Let us then endeavor in imagination to follow 
him, as he retires from the court in the gate, and seeks the repose 
and enjoyment of his home. His official duties are not allowed to 
interfere with those which he owes to his family and to his God. 
Let us suppose the evening sacrifice to have been offered, and the 
family of the patriarch to be seated in their usual places. The 
father's eyes rest for a few moments upon the happy group 
with paternal pride, and then are raised in adoration and thankful- 
ness to Him, whose name is to be blessed whether he gives or takes 
away. 

The momentary silence is broken by the father's effort to teach 
his children the knowledge of divine things. He speaks to them of 
God : he informs them that there is but one supreme, wise, and 
glorious Being ; that he is almighty, omniscient, inscrutable, invisi- 
ble, gracious, ready to forgive the truly penitent ; indeed, if we are 
allowed to judge of the extent of Job's knowledge of God, from the 
language used in tins book, we must conclude that in all points, not 
expressly revealed by the Gospel of Christ, the knowledge of Job 
was not inferior to our own. Nowhere can we find descriptions of 
the Most High, which, in grandeur, beauty, and truth, surpass those 
contained here. Where — in what book, ancient or modern — can 
we find a better or more sublime description of the impossibility of 
comprehending the divine nature than the following ? 

" Behold God is great and we know him not, 
Neither can the number of his years be searched out. 
Canst thou by searching find out God ? 
Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection ] 
It is as high as Heaven ; what canst thou do 1 
Deeper than hell ; what canst thou know ? 
The measure thereof is longer than the earth, 
And broader than the sea." 

This great and glorious Being, Job tells his children, was their 
creator and preserver ; that he formed man, and created the earth 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. 6*7 

and the heavens ; and that, therefore, it became them to remember 
him now, in the days of their youth. There is a passage of 
unequalled beauty and sublimity, which, if it be allowable to con- 
sider it as illustrating Job's knowledge of creation, we may quote, as 
the substance of what he taught his children on this subject. 

" Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth 1 
Declare ; if thou hast understanding, 
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest ! 
Or who hath stretched the line upon it 1 
Whereupon are the foundations. thereof fastened ? 
Or who laid the corner stone thereof? 
When the morning stars sang together — ■ 
And all the sons of God shouted for joy ? 
Or who shut up the sea with doors, 

When it brake forth, as it had issued out of the womb 1 
When I made the cloud the garment thereof, 
And thick darkness a swaddling band for it, 
And brake it up for my decreed place, 
And set bars and doors — 

And said — Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther ; 
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed V 

Job was also well acquainted with the true history of man and 
his fall ; and he showed his children how impossible it was for man 
to obtain by his own exertions, a righteousness which would justify 
him before God. He talked to them of their innate depravity, of 
the true source and hope of pardon, and made known to them 
something of the mode of pardon, as he sought to explain and urge 
the duty of sacrificing to the Lord ; he himself, as the officiating 
priest of his family, setting them a noble example. 

From such instructions, gratifying fruits might with reason be 
expected, nor are we disappointed — a single glimpse is given, but it 
is such as enables us to form a just estimate of its real value. 

As time rolls on, the sons of Job themselves become heads of 



68 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

families ; but though they have left the paternal roof, we find them 
unforgetful of the paternal associations and home enjoyments. 
Separation in life cannot make them strangers to each other ; the 
family bonds are not sundered ; new ties, however powerful and 
tender, cannot weaken the ties of brotherhood ; and the family love 
taught in the father's hall, burns with an undimmed brightness. 
What an insight does this fact alone give us into the religious and 
moral training which they had received ! It assures us that no 
bitter memories, no sad jealousies, no family jars, existed there. In 
this respect, how superior were they to most of the families of the 
Patriarchs, whose history is recorded in the word of God ! Jealousy 
broke the peace of Abraham's family, and made his eldest son an 
alien from his father's house. The sons of Isaac dwelt not harmo- 
niously beneath the same roof, and for the sake of peace had to 
separate. The sons of Jacob envied their brother Joseph to such 
an extent, that they drove him from among them. Aaron and 
Miriam were not always at peace with Moses ; and even in the 
family of Adam, unbrotherly feeling and irreligion wrought 
fratricide. But no such record disgraces the family of Job : there 
affection reigned — reigned unbroken and undisturbed ; even separate 
interests, and new associations and ties could not lessen it. And 
can we trace this to any other cause than such religious training as 
we have supposed ? No — it is religion alone which can soften down 
the asperities of our nature, and thus bind together. It is the love 
of God which produces love — the harmony of the family circle is 
no peculiar characteristic, where God is unknown and unhonored. 

At certain periods, we are informed, the family of Job were wont 
to hold family reunions, probably upon the birth-day of each 
brother : for at that age of the world, and in that land, the birth- 
day was usually observed with great solemnity and rejoicing ; and 
the Chaldee version of the Bible adds, that each of these feasts 
lasted seven days : a supposition not at all improbable. The sacred 
historian mentions a single fact concerning these family gatherings, 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. 60 

which, however simple in itself, is full of meaning. He tells us that 
the joy of the brothers was not complete without the presence of 
their sisters. This fact at once gives elevation, beauty, and character 
to these meetings. "We ask no stronger, nor more decided 
testimony, both as to the character of these young men and to the 
moral and proper conduct of these feasts, than we have here ; 
there cannot be a more significant proof of the refined and elevated 
character of the family than this attention to their sisters. The 
regard paid to females, and the place which they hold in society, is 
a perfect test of the state of refinement in a community. Nay, it 
ma}^ be used as a test of the prevalence of true religion. It is the 
Bible alone which has placed woman in her proper station — on a 
level with and by the side of man. The single declaration, there- 
fore, " they sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink 
with them," must be regarded as conclusive evidence, not only of 
the elevated, moral, and refined character of Job's family, but also 
of their family piety. 

But there is another fact mentioned, and another scene presented, 
which not only show the correctness of this view, but add incalcula- 
bly to the beauty of this family picture. We allude to the conduct 
of Job, and the closing act of these festivities. " And it was," so 
says the sacred historian, " when the days of their feasting were 
gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in 
the morning and offered burnt offerings, according to the number 
of them all ; for Job said, it may be that my sons have sinned and 
cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually." 

In these family meetings Job greatly rejoiced ; but he feared 
also ; he feared lest God had not been remembered as he ought to 
have been. He did not know that any particular sin had been 
committed by his children ; he had seen nothing wrong, but know- 
ing the native depravity of the heart, he was apprehensive that 
God, as the author of their blessings, might not have been truly 
honored ; and, therefore, early on that morning which followed the 



TO FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

close of these joyful seasons, he sent for his children ; he brought 
them again around the family altar. Again, as in former years, their 
beloved father is before them, as an officiating priest of the Most 
High, and for each child he offers a distinct sacrifice. As each 
came forward in his turn, and laying his hand upon the head of the 
victim, prayed for the pardon of any sin which he had committed, 
and then beheld his anxious parent slay the lamb as in his stead, and 
sprinkle the atoning blood on the altar, not without his added 
prayer, must not that child have felt that his festive joy had become 
an act of religion, by which God was honored ? Must not the in- 
fluence of such a conclusion to their family gatherings have been 
most powerful ? How deep must have been the love, and how 
great the reverence felt for their father ? We need no longer won- 
der at the picture which the family of Job presents. A father so 
unremitting in his pious care, so solicitous lest his children should 
sin and offend God, making even their family reunions and social 
pleasures religious acts, continuing his anxiety and care even after 
his children were settled in life, could not but be blessed in his 
children, even though the Abrahamic promise had not yet been 
given — " I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee." 
What a religious atmosphere must there have been in this family ; 
and may not we, who live in these more highly privileged days, 
learn a lesson from this picture of a long by-gone age ? Job had no 
written Bible. He lived before the Bible was, and, as far as we 
know, had no promise that God would be the father of those 
children whose pious parents had dedicated them to Him in solemn 
rite. But to us the volume of God's revealed will has been given 
complete ; to us the Abrahamic covenant and promise have been 
made known ; and yet, where shall we find parents in our day ful- 
filling their parental duties in a manner superior to Job ? Do we 
feel the deep anxiety lest our children should forget God, which he 
manifested ? Where, in Christian lands, is a religious influence and 
atmosphere thrown around the family, even equal to those which 



JOB AND IHS FAMILY. 7l 

pervaded the household of this ancient patriarch ? Yet this, is the 
great secret of family religion, the true mode of attaining the early 
conversion of children— to make the atmosphere of the family more 
like that of Heaven, and not so entirely of earth. It does not 
amount to much to forbid a child this or that particular worldly 
attraction, when nothing but a worldly atmosphere is breathed at the 
fireside. Let parents live for Heaven; let them feel that their 
responsibilities with regard to their children, instead of ending with 
fitting them to act their parts well in this world, have only com 
menced here ; that their families have been intrusted to them to • be 
educated for an immortal existence, for God and Heaven, and not 
for man and earth ; and let this sentiment breathe in their instruc- 
tions, in their habits, in their lives, and it will bring forth 
glorious results. When our children have been exposed to 
influences and have mingled in scenes where God was far more 
likely to have been forgotten than in the family festival of Job's 
sons, how seldom do parents now feel as he did. We are, 
especially in our large cities, much exposed to worldly influences ; 
it is impossible to preserve our families from them ; but we should, 
therefore, be the more anxious that the family influences possess not 
the same worldliness. Job sacrificed his burnt offerings, for fear his 
children had forgotten God, when in the enjoyment of their social 
blessings. When our sons and daughters have mingled in the gay 
throng, where the harp and the viol have excluded all thoughts of 
God, how few parents deem it necessary to sanctify them for the 
morning offering, and kneeling with them at the family altar, ask 
God to forgive them, if it be that in the scenes through which they 
have passed they had sinned, and forgotten God. And should not 
this be one great practical lesson learnt from this history ? How 
can our children remember their Creator in the days of their youth, 
if there be no remembrance of Him in their homes ? If the atmo- 
sphere of home be all worldly, be an atmosphere where God is not, we 
might more hopefully expect to gather grapes from thorns ; and yet 



V2 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

how many families are there where every family influence is against 
God ; where the mother's praises and the father's smile unite to 
produce and to deepen the impression that this world bounds our 
existence, and that there is no brighter, higher, holier state, for 
which we are to prepare ! And thus, by the very attractions of 
home and family such parents are cheering their children onward to 
that wretched world where love is unknown, and where dwells that 
malignant being who has ruined our race. Satan hates the family 
circle which religion binds together ; he ever labors to disturb its 
harmony, for he well knows that there is no fortress so impregnable 
to his attacks. Hence he determined, if the power should be 
allowed him, to break up the family of Job. He could not bear to 
contemplate the happy picture. It was too beautiful for an earth 
over which he ruled. It was, to him, too much like another Eden ; 
he must enter it. For wise reasons God allowed him to enter. 

. The history of the origin of the sorrows of Job may be justly 
placed among the many things which give interest to this wonder- 
ful book. It gives us an insight into the providence of God, and 
shows us how intimate and how connected is the conduct of the 
children of God upon the earth with his. children in the angelic 
w T orld, and how deeply interested are both heaven and hell in the 
consistent walk of the Christian. 

It has, indeed, been supposed by some that the account of the 
interview between God and Satan, contained in the first and second 
chapters of this book, is so improbable a transaction that it throws 
an air of fiction over the whole narrative. But we cannot for one 
moment allow the truth of the supposition, or admit such a princi- 
ple in the interpretation of Scripture. If God would convey a true 
idea to us, he must use our language, and the aid of imagery with 
which we are familiar ; from the necessity of the case, therefore, the 
Bible must contain many representations, even of himself, draw T n 
from our own circumstances. It may be thus here, for the language 
and imagery are evidently taken from the proceedings of an earthly 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. *73 

monarch, seated upon his throne, and before whom the various mes- 
sengers which he had sent forth through his dominions were 
assembled, to render in their several statements. We say that this 
may be the case, but while we make this remark we attempt not to 
show how far the language is mere imagery, for we are certain that 
the whole account is a representation of facts, of realities, and, there- 
fore, may be an actual glimpse into the spiritual land. 

Angels, we know, are in fact employed by God for important 
purposes in the government of his kingdom. They are interested in 
the conduct and affairs of Christians : " Are they not all ministering 
spirits, sent forth to minister to the heirs of salvation V 

The account also here given of the character of Satan accords 
entirely with the uniform representation of him given in other parts 
of the Bible ; and it is impossible to prove that he does not now 
perform the same part in the trials of good men which it is said he 
did in the case of Job. There would be, therefore, no impropriety, 
no absurdity in interpreting the whole narrative literally as an 
actual scene — we must, indeed, do so with regard to Satan's descent 
upon Job ; and forgetfulness of the fact that God allowed him to be 
buffeted by Satan, that Satan regulated all the circumstances, is one 
great reason why students of this book have erred in their under- 
standing and interpretation of it. 

Job we have seen to be an honored prince, respected by all ; a 
man of great wealth, blessed with a peculiarly happy family, whose 
life had been one of almost unexampled prosperity ; and who had 
been thus blessed, as the fruit of his own eminent piety. God had 
not hitherto allowed Satan to trouble him, and he was known in 
heaven as the peculiar favorite of his Maker. God is represented 
as saying of him, " There is none like him in the earth." Satan is 
represented, on the other hand, as having no confidence in him, and 
therefore maintaining that Job would prove no exception, if God 
would only allow him to be assailed as others had been. " Doth 
Job fear God for naught ?" is his religion disinterested ? has he not 



< 4 FAMILY PICTURES ER0M THE BIBLE. 

been abundantly rewarded for his piety by the blessings heaped 
upon him ? have not I been prevented from coming near to him. to 
tempt and harass him ? Job's religion is caused merely by his 
abundant prosperity, and if his wealth were removed and his pious 
family destroyed, he would show his real character, and would curse 
Him whom he now praises as his benefactor. 

The sorrows and trials which followed are designed to test the 
question, whether the piety of Job was of this kind. God allows 
Satan to enter his defences, and leaves him in his hands for a sea- 
son. We soon see what it is for a good man to be in the power of 
this wicked being, and how needful the petition which our Lord 
taught us, " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." 
The birth-day of Job's eldest son had again come round; his 
brethren and sisters had assembled at his house to renew the plea- 
sant days of their childhood. The heart of the patriarch was full of 
joy ; he saw his children all assembled again beneath the roof of 
their elder brother. No breach had been made by death in their 
circle, and he had retired to his own dwelling, perchance to bow 
before God and render the thanksgiving which his mercy and good- 
ness demanded. But while thus seated the bright skies are over- 
cast, the clouds have gathered, an unnatural darkness veils earth 
and sky. Suddenly a breathless messenger stands before him with 
terrible tidings. Scarcely has he finished his sad story ere another 
and another is present with a more fearful tale. In a moment the 
rich and happy man stands in almost solitary desolation — his 
property all swept away, his family broken, his beloved children 
cold and mangled corpses beneath the ruins of their dwelling. 
Wherever he turned his eye, there lay the wreck of some fond hope 
— the fragments of some long cherished expectation. We can 
hardly conceive of a more complete change. Blow follows blow in 
such rapid succession, that not a single moment is allowed him for 
reflection or prayer. An hour before, and he was the most favored 
Son of the East ; he stood like a large" and noble tree, strong and 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. *75 

beautiful in its proportions, with waving branches and luxuriant 
foliage ; but the storm came upon him, and he now stands like the 
lone and solitary trunk, its branches torn off, broken, and scattered, 
" Shelterless himself, and sheltering none." How great the power 
of Satan to work us ill ! How speedily did he find instruments ! 
The minds and purposes of the Sabeans and Chaldseans were all 
under his control. The elements also were alike obedient to his will. 
At the very moment which he selected the lightnings flashed and 
the winds blew, proclaiming him to be, as the Bible calls him, " the 
prince of the power of the air." True, indeed, he could not have 
done these things if God had not permitted him ; but from what he 
did, we may easily see what he both can and would do if all restraint 
were withdrawn, and what we may expect him to do in the eternal 
world to those who shall dwell with him. But he had no power 
over the spirit of Job. Then Job rent his mantle, and in accordance 
with oriental custom shaved his head, and fell down upon the 
ground, and worshipped and said, " ISTaked came I out of my mother 
earth, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the 
Lord hath taken away : blessed be the name of the Lord." How 
completely has Satan been foiled ? He said Job would curse God, if 
thus tried ; — he had tried him, and all the result of his malice was 
this : Job blessed God the more. He worshipped, he uttered no 
denunciation upon the Sabeans, no imprecation upon the Chaldse- 
ans. He did not curse the tempest and the storm ; he worshipped 
God ! How sublime, how exalted that worship ! what unwavering 
faith ! what clear and honoring views of the character of God does 
it display ! " The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed 
be the name of the Lord." The words do not merely acknowledge 
the right of God to take away what he had given, but they assert 
that he is equally to be adored when he takes away as wmen he 
gives. He gave in love ; He has not changed ; He still loves, and 
the love which prompted Him to give now prompts to take away. 
Where in Israel, where throughout the chosen land shall we find 



*76 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

superior faith, more entire confidence in the loving character of God ? 
Before this trial God said of his servant, there is none like him in 
the Earth. May we not in this day of superior light renew this 
declaration ? 

Nor is this conduct of Job in any respect to be ascribed to apathy 
or indifference. His character, as displayed in the deep interest 
which he felt for his children's spiritual welfare, when in their pros- 
perity, forbids such an idea ; his subsequent conduct also shows that 
his grief was intense. No, it was the result, the legitimate fruit of 
true piety ; it was true resignation, its source was the great truth, 
God did it, and he does it in love. Religion, so far from making 
the heart insensible to grief, increases the susceptibility to sorrow 
and suffering ; but at the same time it exercises more decidedly its 
remedial and comforting powers. And we here see how it does 
this — it leads us to recognise the hand of God in our trials, it bids us 
feel the affliction, because God sends it, because he means that we 
should feel it ; but at the same time it reminds us that it is a kind, 
wise, loving father who afflicts, the same who gave, and who has 
not changed in his love, when he takes away. He bids us weep, 
but it is at his feet. 

But Job had not yet drunk the dregs of the cup which Satan 
was allowed to place in his hands ; there was a still more severe 
trial of his spirit to be endured. A bodily disease is sent upon him, 
of a most distressing kind. It is thus described, " And Satan smote 
Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown." And 
the manner in which it affected him we may learn from the 
sufferer himself. He tells us, that it made his nights restless and 
full of tossings to and fro ; that it clothed his flesh with clods of 
dust, which he removed with a potsherd, or fragment of a broken 
earthen vessel ; that it made his face foul with weeping, that it 
corrupted his breath, and made his bones, pierced with pain, to 
cleave to his skin, while it made his skin black, and burnt up his 
bones with heat. Contrast his condition as thus described, with 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. 77 

that in which he is first presented to us, and you will be able to 
form some estimate of his afflictions. 

There, upon a heap of ashes, out of the city, away from the 
habitations of men, sits weeping, the man of wealth and of distinc- 
tion, before whom men bowed, and held their peace ; in his hand, a 
piece of broken earthen-ware, with which he is scraping his body, 
covered with undressed and most painful sores. Nothing done to 
heal him, no kindness shown in taking care of him — separated from 
his home, his children dead — doomed to endure his sufferings 
without sympathy. There is, however, one member of his once 
happy family, who survives — one from whom he might expect the 
warmest sympathy. The partner of his joyful life remains ; surely, 
she with her woman's heart and clinging attachment, though all 
else forsake her husband, will be with him, to cheer his heart, to 
soothe his spirit, to help him bear his unparalleled sufferings? 
Doubtless she would have done so, had it not been for the influence 
of Satan. She probably felt his distress and changed circumstances 
even more bitterly than he did, and the trial was more than she 
could bear. 

It is customary to regard the wife of Job as deficient in attach- 
ment to her husband, but there is no certain evidence of this ; the 
contrary seems to be the case. Had she been called on to bear in 
her own person the sickness and pain which she saw her beloved 
husband endure, womanlike, she would probably have borne all 
with resignation : but hers was a harder lot ; instead of enduring 
suffering herself, she had to endure the sight of the sufferings of one 
whom she loved — one dearer to her heart than all others. She had 
suffered with him the loss of property, and as far as we know had 
been silent; she had borne with him the loss of their beloved 
children, and her heart had doubtless ached, as only a mother's 
heart could ache, under such a bereavement ; but dumb with grief, 
she had uttered no plaint, she had mourned in secret over her 
terrible affliction. At length as her grief somewhat subsides, she is 



78 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

able to tliink of the sufferings which the father of her children must 
endure ; she seeks him out. Alas ! what a sight meets her eye ! Is 
that bowed, weeping, loathsome object, seated in the open air, upon 
the ash-heap — is that her noble-hearted, her generous and pious 
husband ! Oh, it is more than her already crushed heart could 
bear ; her piety yields before her affection, and under the natural 
impulse, and in evident distress, more on her husband's account, 
than her owm, she abruptly utters the unadvised words, " Dost thou 
still retain thy integrity? Curse God and die." Her language 
simply implies that if all these sorrows were the rewards of a pious 
life, it was not worth while to retain his regard for God. If God 
could thus afflict his righteous servant, he w T as not worthy of 
confidence or service. 

The thought 'was Satan's, but it- accorded with the natural feelings 
of fallen sinful human nature, when sorely afflicted. Others have 
felt in a similar way, and have similarly expressed their feelings ; 
they have even called God a hard master, and given vent to feelings 
of rebellion and murmuring. 

The reply of Job exalts him the more, and causes his piety to 
shine with more brilliant lustre. Her unexpected impropriety of 
speech doubtless increased the sorrows of the already much 
enduring man. He saw with pain that the piety of his wife was 
overcome by his accumulated calamities, but his only reply is the 
sad and gentle rebuke, " Thou speakest as one of the foolish women 
speaketh." In Bible language, folly is the opposite of religion. 
Thou speakest as one destitute of piety ; what, shall we receive good 
at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil ? This is the true 
expression of real piety ; it submits to all the arrangements of God 
without a murmur, it acknowledges that it has no claim whatever 
upon God : certainly no claim which makes it wrong or unkind 
for God to visit with calamity those upon whom he bestows so many 
undeserved benefits. In all this, says the sacred historian, Job did 
not sin with his lips. 



JOB AND HI3 FAMILY. 7 9 

But we have not yet fathomed the real depth of his afflictions, 
nor seen the full force of his trials. We have as yet only looked at 
the outer man ; we have not noticed the thrusts of Satan upon his 
spirit, and have therefore only contemplated the lighter parts of his 
sorrows. Let us then endeavor to form some idea of the trials 
which the inner man endured. 

The design of Satan was to induce Job to curse God ; hence the 
suddenness and the order of the repeated blows with which lie at 
first assailed him. He sought to excite wrath, anger, the desire of 
vengeance, in the heart of Job, against the human-instruments who 
had robbed him of his property ; and when he supposed that the 
heart, of Job was filled with passion, and burning for vengeance 
against the Sabeans and Chaldeans, without giving him time to soothe 
his excited feelings by prayer, and perhaps to prevent him from 
having recourse to prayer, he brings the news of the destruction of 
his children by the winds of Heaven — thus seeking to turn the 
unholy passions which he supposed had been excited, directly upon 
the Creator of the winds, and thus make him vent his angry 
feelings against God. 

We should notice, also, the peculiar juncture at which Satan robs 
Job of his children ; we have seen his anxiety for their spiritual and 
eternal welfare ; and that it was especially called forth at those 
seasons when they rejoiced in their family gatherings. It was one 
of these occasions which Satan selected for their destruction, before 
their father had offered his usual sacrifice, as atonement for their 
sins. The design of Satan was, that from the greatness and sudden 
nature of the calamity, Job might conclude that it was on account 
of their sins that the Lord smote them ; that he might feel the 
anguish of fearing that his children had died before the Lord, with 
sins unatoned and unforgiven. He would have the fearful idea 
press upon his spirit, that so very remarkable a providence as the 
destruction of his whole family on the same day and hour at which 
his property was swept away, and the fall of that particular house 



80 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

alone, in which his children were gathered, while the storm had 
destroyed no other dwelling* in the neighborhood, was a proof of 
God's special anger, not only with him, but with his children ; judge 
ye how this thought must have pierced the heart of the anxious 
father ! 

Satan now allows some period of time to intervene before he 
attacks the person of Job ; how great the interval we are not told. 
It was probably just sufficient to enable his victim to feel the full 
misery of his changed worldly circumstances, to mark the diminish- 
ed respect and regard which followed the loss of property. Job 
speaks most touchingly of this : 

" But now, they that are younger than I have me in derision, Whose fathers I 
would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. 
" And now I am their song, yea I am their by-word. 
" They abhor me, they flee far from me, 
" And spare not to spit in my face ; 
" Because He hath loosed my cord and afflicted me, 
" They have also let loose the bridle before me." 

This is, perhaps, the most bitter ingredient contained in the loss 
of property — the changed conduct of the world, the diminution of 
respect which accompanies it. Many, in our large cities, can give am- 
ple testimony on this subject. How has the iron entered their souls, 
as they have been made to feel the difference with which men treated 
them ! The loss of wealth they could bear calmly — they could 
trace the hand of Providence in that ; but the loss of that respect 
which was paid to them as the possessors of wealth, cut them to the 
heart. This we see Job felt most keenly. It is of this he com- 
plains, and complains with great severity, and perhaps with indig- 
nant pride and anger. " I would have disdained to have set their 
fathers with the dogs of my flock." We praise not Job for this ; it was, 
perhaps, his first sin with his lips ; but we see how he was tried by 
this circumstance. As soon as Satan, most wise to distress, found 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. 81 

the spirit of Job sufficiently moved by the effect of his first assault, 
he prepares for the second, and. sends the bodily affliction. We 
have already spoken of the trying nature of the affliction, as pre- 
sented to the outward senses ; but this was the smaller part. There 
was cruel wisdom displayed by Satan in its selection. It was a 
disease which, while it demanded not sympathy as if dangerous to 
life, not only made its victim an offensive and unpleasant sight to 
beholders, but was more calculated, perhaps, than any other, to dis- 
tress the mind, and produce the sin which Satan sought to effect- 
The whole system of nerves, by which sensibility is given to our 
frames, lie immediately beneath the skin. It was directly in the 
region of these nerves that the disease of Job was placed. Severe 
pains, nervous irritability, sleeplessness, and burning fever, were the 
necessary result. Let him who hath seen the brain so disturbed by 
a disorganized nervous system as to reel and totter upon the very 
confines of raving madness, judge what must be the amount of 
effort required to hold the soul in patience under such a disease. 
To all these physical and mental sufferings we must add the direct 
effort of Satan upon the mind of Job, through his sympathizing and 
sorrowful wife ; we must not lose sight of the fact that Satan had 
one single direct object in view, from the track of which, like a 
bloodhound, he never swerved for a single moment. His aim was 
to induce Job to curse or renounce God ; and hence, with consum- 
mate art, when by the bodily pains and mental anguish he had 
prepared him to entertain the evil thought, he then suggests the 
very thought, by means of his suffering, bereaved wife ; throws the 
very words into his mind by the tones of a familiar voice, softened 
and trembling under the severest affliction which a mother can 
endure. 

But all these fail. Still more powerful influences, therefore, must 
be brought to bear upon his spirit; he must be irritated by injus- 
tice ; be compelled to reply, while laboring under bodily pains, to 
false charges. Surely some improper w T ords will drop from his lips. 

•4* 



82 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

And here again we have an exhibition of the wonderful art of the 
great enemy of our souls. Having tried in vain to induce the 
unholy feeling at which he aimed by these multiplied external and 
physical inflictions, he prepares to operate upon his mind by the 
most powerful instrumentality of his most sincere friends — friends 
who cluno; to him when all others had deserted him, and who thus 
gave the most decided evidence of the strength and reality of their 
attachment. 

The rumor of his unprecedented calamities had spread far ; and 
three of his aged friends, men of exalted worth and station, having 
heard of them, concert a plan to visit him in company, and to unite 
their efforts for his welfare, to mourn with him, and to comfort him. 
In the prosecution of their benevolent purpose they approach the 
place where they are told they will find their friend. They see in 
the distance a most wretched object, so wretched, so altered his 
whole appearance, that they would not have recognised him had 
they not been prepared for the change by previous reports. They 
were all so deeply affected at the sight that they burst into tears, 
rent their mantles, as expressive of their grief, and sprinkled dust 
upon their heads, as mourners in that day were wont to do. On 
coming into his immediate presence, they sat down with him upon 
the ground. So overwhelmed were they with the sight of his 
melancholy condition, and so deep their sympathy, that none of 
them attempted to give utterance to his feelings for the space of 
seven days and nights. They probably felt, as the full vision of his 
sufferings burst upon them, that the ordinary consolations would not 
suit the case. In this state of mind they were peculiarly open to 
the suggestions of the malevolent being into whose hands God had 
permitted Job to fall. Satan therefore easily induced them to adopt 
his own ideas, and shook their confidence in the piety of their friend. 
They seem unanimously to have adopted the opinion, that these 
great calamities were proofs of great criminality, and, therefore, that 
Job could not be the real friend of God. In accordance with this 



JOE AND HIS FAMILY. 83 

idea, instead of seeking to console, and making their real sympathy 
a comfort, they regard him as a hypocrite, and administer rebuke 
and reproof, trying to convince him that God, on whom he relied, 
was displeased with him. Oh ! it required an intellect of the highest 
order, as well as exalted piety, to resist all these influences ! How 
trying must it have been to the bowed sufferer to feel that his own 
friends, aged and dear friends, friends who had known him long and 
familiarly, did not understand him, had lost confidence in him, 
could not be persuaded of his sincerity and truthfulness! What a 
sense of isolation and injustice must have weighed down his spirit ! 
and if, in his efforts to vindicate himself under all these circum- 
stances, an impatient word dropped from his lips, or his self-vindica- 
tion was carried too far, who of us will dare to do more than to 
pity him ? or while we do acknowledge the sin, must we not still 
admire the piety and patience of the man ? How far superior to the 
great mass of men does he show himself, even while he sins ! Yes, 
Job did sin ! but even in the midst of his sin he presents a spectacle 
of sublime moral greatness, such as our world has never seen in 
any other mere man. He did sin ! but we all feel that it was the sin 
of a great and good man. Jesus Christ is the only perfect model. 

Endeavor to bring up before your mind this noble sufferer as here 
presented, to realize the powerful and terrible forces by which he 
was at the same time assailed, all urging to one single point — to 
induce him to curse God, to renounce Him, as the only object of 
love and worship. 

You must bear in mind throughout the whole of his trials, who 
was the real adversary who had arrayed all his forces against the 
solitary man. You must not forget that it was that mighty and 
powerful Being who once stood near the throne of God — that noble 
creature, who had mind and power enough to dare, even in heaven, 
to think of seizing the throne of the Almighty ; who had power and 
might and hardihood enough to imagine that it was possible to be 
successful in a contest, even with Jehovah — that Being, who was 



84 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

able to overcome our first parents in all their glory as they came 
from the hands of their Creator — that fearful One, who dared to 
meet in hostile array the Son of God when he was here on earth, 
and to measure his power with Omnipotence. It was this mighty 
foe, let loose and unrestrained by God, who stands before the 
solitary stripped sufferer, driving upon him all his forces, assailing 
him with the memory of joys and comforts torn away by violence, 
assailing him with the vivid picture of his scattered fortune swept 
away in an hour — urging on his throbbing heart the memory of the 
cruel death pangs of his loved children — setting before him the 
vision of their mangled bodies, and urging him by all these to 
renounce his piety — pleading with him by the pains of his body, by 
the anguish of his soul under obloquy and contempt, pleading by 
the solicitation and sympathy of his wife — assailing him with the 
injustice of his friends, and by their strong arguments to prove to 
him that God was not his God. And yet that solitary, lone sufferer 
stands firm, clinging to his God with an unbroken and unrelaxing 
grasp, exclaiming in his darkest hour, " Though He slay me, yet 
will I trust in him : I know that my Redeemer liveth ;" and if in 
his anguish both of body and soul he do exclaim, " cursed be the 
day of my birth, I am weary of life ;" and if in his self-justification 
he do sin, must we not still admire and adore the grace of God, by 
which a creature so weak in himself was enabled to stand so firmly 
and so long without sin, and to swerve so little from the pathway of 
duty? 

The trial of faith, resignation, and integrity now draws to an end. 
The arch-demon who had directed it is completely baffled. God 
himself in some way visibly appears to pronounce judgment, shows 
that he has been no uninterested spectator of his servant's trials, 
and speaks to Job out of the whirlwind. The address ascribed to 
Him bears innate evidence that God alone is its author. As a com- 
bination of dignity, sublimity, grandeur, and condescension, it is far 
beyond anything delivered in human language. It asserts the 



JOB AND HIS FAMILY. 85 

supremacy of the Most High, and that he must be adored — the 
incomprehensibility of his wisdom, and therefore that it is vain to 
arraign it — the omnipotence of his power, and therefore that it is 
absurd to resist it — the universality of his greatness, and therefore 
that it is blindness and ingratitude to deny it. 

The awful and sublime address is listened to with conviction. 
The humiliated sufferer confesses the folly of his arrogance and pre- 
sumption, abhors himself for his conduct, and exclaims in lowliness 
of soul, " I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now 
mine eye seeth thee ; therefore I abhor nryself and repent in dust 
and ashes. Behold I am vile." 

The departure of Satan immediately succeeds. The self-abasement 
of Job is accepted : his friends are severely reprimanded for their 
judgment concerning him, and for their false and dishonorable views 
of the providence of God in contending that he never does or can 
permit trouble, but in cases of wickedness. A sacrifice is demanded 
of them, and Job is appointed to be their intercessor. Upon the 
accomplishment of this the severely tried patriarch is restored to 
his former state of enjoyment, and his prosperity is in every respect 
doubled. . 



IX. 

THE FAMILY OF ELKANAH. 

Amidst the scenes of war and violence, of alternate struggle and 
servitude, unfolded in the Book of Judges, the picture of the pious 
Levite of Ramah Zophim and his family, is one of peculiar beauty. 
The wonderful deeds of the most extraordinary among the Jewish 
heroes, Samson, were ringing in the ears of the people ; the feeble 
and irresolute Eli was judge and high-priest of Israel, and the sons 
whom he so criminally indulged were bringing destruction upon 
themselves and wrath upon the nation, when within the sacred 
precincts of the tabernacle was growing up the devoted child, the 
chosen prophet, the pious governor, whose administration was to 
restore dignity and peace to his country. Elkanah was a peaceable 
citizen of a town in Mount Ephraim, and a devout servant of 
Jehovah, as appears from the regularity with which he went up, at 
stated times, to worship and offer sacrifices. The ark and tabernacle 
were at Shiloh in the territory of Ephraim, the most powerful and 
least exposed of the provinces ; and thither to the one place and the 
one altar consecrated by the presence of Divinity, was the true 
Israelite bound to repair, whatever disorder might prevail in the 
ceremonies, or however unworthy might be the priests who minis- 
tered in the holy ordinances. The character of this exemplary 
citizen is finely drawn by a few touches in the Bible. He was 
devotedly attached to Hannah, who seems to have been his first 
wife. For Peninnah, the mother of his children, he had due 
respect, and showed it in giving to her and the children the 
customary portions at the appointed peace-offerings, on which it was 
usual for the offerer to feast with his family. To Hannah, the 
beloved, he rendered more than the wonted attention ; a eircum- 

86 



THE FAMILY OF ELKANAH. 8*7 

stance which did not escape the jealous observation of her rival. 
The patience and kindness with which Elkanah bears the arrogance 
and malevolence of Peninnah, exhibited in a way which must have 
wounded him most severely, since it embittered the life of one 
dearer than himself — the tenderness with which he remonstrates 
with Hannah upon her indulgence of a grief that disturbed their 
proper performance of religious ceremonies, assuring her of the 
unchangeable affection which ought to have consoled her for all 
disappointments — and the fidelity with which he aids her to fulfil her 
pledge to the Lord, mark him as a faithful husband and father, as 
well as a true-hearted Hebrew. We know not the motives with 
which he had married Peninnah ; probably the desire of offspring, 
as in Abraham's case, had influenced him ; but like him he had 
reason to repent a step involving injury to his own peace, and 
rendering his house, when his family was assembled, the scene of 
discord and suffering. On every occasion, and particularly when 
they went up to Shiloh, to join in the solemn acts enjoined by their 
religious law — the fortunate mother of sons and daughters, proud 
of her fertility, and rejoicing that her rival was denied the blessing 
of children, taunted and provoked Hannah. Peninnah is emphati- 
cally called " her adversary," for her conduct was prompted by the 
most cruel malevolence, and might have generated not only dis- 
content, but envy and vindictive resentment in the mind of the 
gentle being so wantonly insulted. But Hannah's nature, it seems, 
was not one ready to apprehend and resent injury. She gave no 
reply to the taunts hurled against her, even at times when respect 
for the ordinances of the sanctuary should have checked a vaunting 
or insclent spirit ; she uttered no murmur against the Providence 
which seemed to have cut her off from the hope of being a mother 
in Israel ; but she felt the reproach intensely and keenly, and poured 
out her sorrow in tears, being unable to eat of the sacrifices, or 
fearing to partake of them in a spirit of mournfulness. Hannah 
does not appear to have possessed any of the impatient temper 



88 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

manifested by Rachel under a similar affliction. She had strong 
feelings, but they were controlled by her respect for Elkanah's 
authority, and by her religious faith. On the occasion mentioned 
particularly, the insolence of her adversary, and the anguish caused 
by her provoking language, seem to have reached their climax. 
Then it was that Elkanah rebuked her gently, for the immoderate 
grief which was an offence to God, as well as unkindness to him. 
Hannah answered not, but rose up after the solemn feast ; her soul 
was full of bitterness, her anguish no longer repressible ; and she 
obeyed the native tendency of the spirit to pour out its woe to the 
Almighty Hearer of prayer. . Let the waters of affliction overwhelm 
the soul — deep calling unto deep ; let earthly help and hope dis- 
appear — and its cry ascends instinctively to heaven. Happy those 
who, like Hannah, can pray in faith as well as fervently, and keep 
the vow made in the day of trouble ! 

Hannah stood within the tabernacle, and the pent-up sorrow of 
her bosom found vent first in a flood of tears, and then in earnest 
supplication before the Lord. She vowed a vow, that if a son were 
granted her, he should be consecrated to God, and devote all the 
days of his life only to His service. Often might blessings importu- 
nately craved be found curses in reality, and the parent's heart be 
wrung by the ingratitude or tlie unworthiness of the child received 
as the dearest boon of Heaven. She who prayed now for a son, would 
secure his welfare both in this world and the next, as well as 
testify her gratitude for the gift, by dedicating him to the Lord. As she 
stood and prayed — her whole heart absorbed in the earnestness of her 
petition — her lips moving, but with no audible voice — unmindful or 
unconscious of observation, there was one who looked upon and 
condemned her. The high-priest Eli, seated by the post in the 
temple or tabernacle, had marked her entrance and her movements, 
and mistaking the evidence of strong emotion, taxed her with 
drunkenness. Here again are shown the mildness and humility of 
Hannah, in the courteous and respectful manner in which she 



THE FAMILY OF ELKANAH. 89 

replied, evincing no anger at the injurious imputation cast upon her. 
It was nothing strange, perhaps, in those days, when the temple 
of the Most High was profaned by licentious excess, when the very 
priests " lorded it over God's heritage," and desecrated his sacrifice 
with abominations, for the inebriate to venture into the sanctuary ; 
nor had the reproof of the high-priest, in most cases, much effect. 
Hannah not only testified no indignation, but in declaring her 
innocence and the sorrow that had brouo-ht her thither an humble 
supplicant, did not explain the cause of her distress. It lay between 
her and her Maker : in Him alone she trusted for relief, and so she 
sought no human sympathy nor intervention in making known her 
complaint to the God of Israel. Eli acknowledged his mistake, and 
without knowing what had been her petition, added his blessing 
and prayer that it might be granted. 

Having " poured out her soul before the Lord," Hannah goes 
her way, no longer oppressed with sadness, and able, with a 
cheerful countenance, to bear her part in the stated worship. The 
son she asked is given, and she calls him by a name that perpetuates 
her memoiy of the obligation. She does not go up to the yearly 
sacrifice till the time comes when she may perform her vow, and 
give him up finally to the sanctuary. Elkanah approves her 
determination. " Do," he says, " what seemeth thee good ; only 
the Lord establish his word." His zeal for the honor of Jehovah, 
and confidence that He would do all things well, rendered him 
willing to yield up his own judgment even in disposing of his child. 
How signally was the devotion rewarded ! 

A scene of deep interest and pathos is presented in the final 
restitution of the gift or loan for which Hannah had prayed in the 
sanctuary.' Leading her boy, and having with her the offerings for 
sacrifice and thank-offering customary for those who came to pay a 
tribute of gratitude and joy, she appears once more in the presence 
of the high-priest. No longer bowed down -with distress, she is so 
changed by the cheerfulness of her countenance and deportment, 



90 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

that she is not recognised by Eli. Her heart is overflowing with 
thankful happiness ; she remembers not his unkind reproof, but 
greeting him eagerly, declares herself the same woman who stood 
by him praying ; that she has been made happy by a gracious 
answer to her petition, and that she is come to render up God's due, 
by giving her son to his service. How must the touching piety of 
this mother, with the innocence of the child who stood ready to be 
thus devoted, have struck the soul of Eli — so lamentably deficient 
in his own domestic management — so unhappy in the misconduct 
of his sons ! It was hard for those affectionate parents to separate 
themselves from their only son, in his tender childhood, while his 
presence was most dear to them, but harder would it have been to 
see the working in him of the curse that follows disobedience ! 

Again Hannah prayed ; but this time not in humiliation and 
anguish. Then, her voice was not heard, but her prayer struggled 
upward from her heart ; now her words are uttered aloud, and her 
love and gratitude poured out in the sacred and sublime hymn, at 
the close of which is a mysterious prophecy of the greatness of the 
Messiah. She returns to Ramah with Elkanah, leaving Samuel to 
minister before the Lord, but continues from year to year to visit 
him, and bring him little tokens of her maternal fondness, when she 
comes up with Elkanah to attend the sacrifice. She was blessed 
amidst the cares of a numerous family, in watching the growth of 
this cherished son in wisdom and piety. Her trust was remembered 
in the grace which made the child " in favor both with the Lord, 
and also with men." 

The child destined after Moses to be the first eminent and 
acknowledged prophet in Israel, continued to serve in the sanctuary 
under the direction of the high-priest. While slumbering at night 
in the area of the tabernacle, a mysterious voice called him by 
name ; the call being repeated so frequently that the aged Eli 
became convinced that some new revelation was to be made. It 
was an affecting scene, when, on the morning after the vision, the 



THE FAMILY OF ELKANAH. 91 

guileless child stood in the presence of the infirm high-priest, who 
had been to him as a father, for whom affectionate respect had 
grown with his growth, and adjured by the great name of Jehovah, 
delivered the awful message. Strange, that the first words of 
prophecy from the lips of one so young should be fraught with 
such terror, and stranger still that they should denounce unrelenting 
vengeance upon the house of the priest who had protected the 
early years of Samuel, and hoped, perhaps, to find comfort in him 
for the wickedness of those of his own blood ! 

The fame of Samuel extended as he grew, and his word " came 
to all Israel," till he assumed his appointed place as head of the 
state. Thus was distinguished honor put upon the piety of his 
parents, and the wise nurture in which he grew. Elkanah and 
Hannah were blessed, not in his greatness, but in his pre-eminent 
usefulness. 



X. 

ELI AND HIS FAMILY. 

The condition of the Hebrew nation at the period of Eli's priest- 
hood, contributed to increase the weight of priestly influence and 
power. The frontier, harassed by enemies, to oppose whom a con- 
tinual struggle was necessary — the central territory of Ephraim 
became the most powerful province among the tribes. The taber- 
nacle and ark — the strength and hope of Israel, as the symbol of 
the presence of the Deity — were at Shiloh, whither the people went 
up at stated times to worship ; that place, therefore, was acknow- 
ledged as the capital, and Eli was invested with civil as well as 
religious supremacy, being both judge and high-priest in Israel. 
His own character, as an individual, appears to have been upright 
and blameless ; he had a knowledge of the attributes of God, and 
worshipped Him in sincerity ; he manifested submission, patience, 
and penitence, when punishment was denounced upon his house; 
and at the last, when he watched, with a fearful looking for of judg- 
ment — when overwhelming ruin was upon him, his apprehensions 
and his anguish were more for the ark of God than even for his 
doomed children. It was in his relations as a father and ruler — in 
his public capacity, that he was so culpably defective ; that he was 
judged worthy of the terrible punishment under which he sank in 
his old age. 

Two sons had Eli — Hophni and Phinehas — who also were engaged 
in the sacerdotal service at Shiloh. They had been brought up to 
the sacred office, and probably instructed according to the law ; but 
they had no real acquaintance with the perfections of the Being they 
professed to serve, nor any disposition to honor his ordinances. 
Their unjust and illegal exactions from those who came to offer 

92 



ELI AND HIS FAMILY. 93 

sacrifice, their insolence and tyranny, caused the people who suf- 
fered from such abuses to " abhor the offering of the Lord." Evils 
yet more scandalous and disgraceful were introduced by them into 
the very courts of the tabernacle ; till the heaven-appointed rites of 
Hebrew worship, thus shamelessly profaned, were in danger of being- 
assimilated to the corrupt practices of the votaries of Baal, or the 
Babylonian deities. Such abandoned conduct in men so eminent in 
official position, whose power and influence were doubtless considera- 
ble, could not fail to degrade, in the eyes of the people, the sacred 
ceremonies in which they ministered, and induced so general a 
neglect of religious observances as tended to bring divine displeasure 
upon the whole nation. All Israel suffered from the wickedness of 
those sons of Belial in high places ; and times of profligacy, apos- 
tasy, and idolatry were likely to ensue upon their sacrilegious insults 
to the institutions of Jehovah. While these atrocious abuses were 
going on, the pleasing interlude described in the foregoing chapter 
took place ; and it is a relief to turn from the sight of the wicked 
priests to the picture of innocence, faith, and pious confidence and 
gratitude presented on the other hand. There was doubtless a con- 
geniality of disposition between the aged high-priest and the 
consecrated child intrusted to his care. Eli addresses him as a son, 
endeared to him by affection and knowledge of the high destiny in 
reserve for him ; and sore indeed must have been the father's heart, 
when he reflected on the contrast between this artless boy and those 
who were indeed his sons. The rumor of all they had done to the 
people who came to worship at Shiloh, and of the effects of their 
heinous example, reached the old man's ears, and drew from him a 
mild reproof for their evil doings. He appealed to them as if they 
had possessed consciences, and had been capable of being moved by 
the reasons he alleges, to mend their course. Vain expectation ! its 
indulgence only proves how ignorant was the father of the depravity 
of the human heart, and the fearful state of those who are given up 
to impenitence and condemnation. He executed not upon them the 



94 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

punishment their crimes deserved, and which was imperatively- 
called for, to vindicate the honor of the priesthood, and counteract 
the tendency of their example ; he expelled them not from the 
office they had profaned, but listened rather to the dictates of 
parental feeling, which prompted to a light passing over of their 
offences, than to the stern requirement of his duty as head of the 
church and ruler of the people. His rebuke, so inadequate in 
severity, had no effect, for they had spurned the mercy of God, and 
were marked out as victims to his justice. 

The father, culpable in his partiality, forbore to repress wickedness 
by due punishment ; the righteous Judge therefore pronounces sen- 
tence upon him as involved in the guilt. A messenger extraordi- 
nary, bearing a direct message from the Lord of hosts, appears in 
the presence of the high-priest, whose peculiar province it was to 
consult the divine oracle with the sacred breastplate of judgment. 
Fearlessly he delivers the words committed to him — the terrible 
threatening of vengeance from which there was no deliverance. " Thou 
honorest thy sons above me," was the charge against Eli ; he had thus 
connived at, and virtually encouraged their crimes, and was to be chief 
in bearing the punishment. He had forgotten the favor conferred 
on the house of Aaron and his own family, and was now to see the 
calamity of the habitation of God, with the transfer of the priest- 
hood to another line, and the degradation and misery of his 
descendants. The death of the wicked priests, his sons, was to be 
but a sign of the evil to come. 

Once more, by the mouth of the child Samuel, came the message 
of vengeance to Eli. It is likely he looked to this youthful servant 
of God, growing up under his care, for consolation amidst the heavy 
afflictions which had bowed him down more than the weight of 
years. He loved the boy, and was affectionately reverenced by him. 
They had taken sweet counsel together in the shadow of the sanc- 
tuary ; and the soul of the feeble old man had been refreshed in the 
companionship of innocence pure from all contamination of the 



EI.I AND HIS FAMILY. 95 

world. How agonizing must his consciousness have been, when, 
from the lips of this child, reluctant to speak of the vision, but 
solemnly charged to hide nothing from him of all that had been 
revealed, he heard the fearful denunciation, ere long to be more 
fearfully executed than even he had apprehended ! There was no 
room for mistrust or suspicion of harshness or exaggeration, in the 
messenger ; there was nothing equivocal in the message itself. " I 
will judge his house for ever, for the iniquity which he knoweth ; 
because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not," 
were words whose import could not be misunderstood. The meek 
reply of Eli to the communication showed his acquiescence in the 
terrible sentence. He presumed not to remonstrate, or entreat 
mercy ; but, assured that God would do right, and that his part was 
to submit in humility to the merited chastisement, calmly expressed 
that submission, doubtless in humble trust that mercy would be 
extended to him as a man, in the midst of temporal judgments. 

The time came for the destruction which had been foretold. The 
people of Israel were at Avar again with the Philistines. The time 
is supposed by some to have been shortly after the remarkable death 
of Samson ; and if so, it might be that the Hebrews, who seem to 
have been the party to commence hostilities, were encouraged by 
the slaughter of the Philistine chiefs in the fall of the temple at 
Gaza, into efforts to throw, off the oppressive yoke by a vigorous 
attack upon their enemies. The people went forth to battle with 
large hopes of success ; and marching to Aphek, where the foe was 
encamped, the encounter took place there between the rival armies. 
It resulted in the total defeat of the men of Israel, while four 
thousand were left dead upon the field. There was consternation in 
the camp when the discomfited forces returned ; and the question as 
to what caused the day's disaster was rife among them. The 
elders were ready to propose an expedient which they imagined 
would secure them future triumph. The wonders wrought in for- 
mer days, when the ark, the symbol of God's presence, was borne 



96 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

in front of the ranks, when the waters of Jordan were divided, and 
the walls of Jericho fell down before it, were vivid in their recollec- 
tion ; they forgot that no divine command authorized them now to 
expect similar miracles, and anticipated the terror and flight of their 
enemies before the sacred emblem. They sent to Shiloh for the 
ark of the covenant. It may be conjectured with what feelings the 
blind old man, Eli, knew of the removal of the ark from its place 
in the Holy of holies, to be carried into the army under the care of 
his guilty sons. Heavily must the prophecy have weighed upon 
his heart, mingled with fearful apprehensions for the fate of that on 
which hung the fate of the nation — and more — the worship of the 
true God upon earth. Its arrival in the camp is welcomed with a 
shout from the entire army, with which the earth rang. The 
shout is heard in the enemy's camp ; the Philistine leaders, in sur- 
prise, inquire the meaning of the strange burst of exultation, and 
learn that the ark is with the Hebrews. Though flushed with vic- 
tory, they are seized with a sudden terror at the tidings. " Woe 
unto us !" they cry, for they have a hereditary dread of the mighty and 
mysterious Deity who has heretofore proved invincible ; whose pre- 
sence and power brought such signal defeat on the Egyptians and the 
Canaanites. But their alarm is speedily overcome by strong reso- 
lution to sustain their character for valor, and fight to the death for 
their liberties. The final encounter takes place ; the Philistines 
fight with desperate resolution, determined not to be enslaved by 
the people who had groaned under their yoke ; the Hebrews with 
energy, and assurance of success ; but the day is against them. 
The Philistines gain a complete victory ; thirty thousand of Israel 
are left dead on the field, and the survivors are scattered in every 
direction, fleeing every man to his tent. The wicked priests who 
bore the ark, proudly esteeming themselves the deliverers of the 
people, are slain; and, worst calamity of all ! the ark itself has 
fallen into the ' ands of the uncircumcised enemy. "What a 
triumph for the conqueror — what a loss for the nation abandoned of 



ELI AND HIS FAMILY. 97 

their God — and doomed, as it seemed, to hopeless servitude I No 
such terrible disaster had ever before happened. A fugitive from 
the army, with his clothes rent, and dust upon his head, ran to 
Shiloh, to bear the appalling intelligence. The aged high-priest has 
gone forth, and sits by the wayside, near the gate, waiting for news 
of the battle — his heart trembling for the ark of God. As the 
messenger rushes in and spreads his disastrous news, a cry of wild 
grief and horror runs through the city. Eli hears the tumultuous 
lamentation, and eagerly inquires what is the cause. He knows 
that his sons have perished — that Israel's army is defeated ; but 
what woe more terrible than defeat and slaughter has fallen on the 
land — to plunge all into mourning ! — " The ark of God is taken !" 
With those words the measure of anguish for the old man is com- 
plete. He had bowed himself to the judgments predicted ; but this 
dishonor to his religion, this loss of that which was the life as well as 
the glory of the nation, this final departure, as he might have deemed 
it, of Jehovah from the place chosen for his abode ! and all in con- 
sequence of his own criminal weakness and negligence, has crushed 
him to the earth. Too much overcome to utter a word of reply or 
comment, he swooned, and fell backward from his seat : his neck 
brake, and he died. 

Nothing is said previously of the wives of the sons of Eli ; but 
the incident recorded of the wife of Phinehas shows the strength 
of her reverence for the national religion and the sacred ordinances. 
She pays no regard to the intelligence that she has borne a son ; 
she heeds not the approach of death ; even grief for her dead hus- 
band and father-in-law seems lost in a deeper emotion. Her dying 
lips repeat the announcement — " The ark of God is taken !" — and 
she only notices her child to bestow the name commemorative of the 
event — w Ichabod — the glory is departed from Israel." 

How impressive and full of instruction is the contrast presented 
in the history of the two families, thus strangely associated together, 
though so different in character ! The obscure citizen, persevering 



98 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

in his attendance on the religions services, steadfast in redeeming* 
the vows by which his child was devoted, even though he leaves 
him exposed to the contagion of evil example, has his reward in the 
piety and usefulness of the great prophet and ruler of Israel ; the 
judge and high-priest sinks under the weight of the calamities his 
own sin has brought on his country through the iniquity of his sons. 
In the one instance we see great good, in the other great evil to the 
state, wrought by the due fulfilment, or the neglect of the funda- 
mental principle in the duty of a parent. The regard of Elkanah 
and Hannah for the honor of God — the ruling motive of their con- 
duct — cements the family union, and exercises a conservative 
influence over the children ; Eli's weak preference of the pleasure 
of his sons to the stern performance of his duty as priest of the 
Most High, not only involves him and them in ruin, but brings un- 
precedented disgrace on their land and their faith. Pages might be 
written upon the lesson ; but we leave it to the reader's reflection. 



XI. 

THE FAMILY OF NAOMI. 

So many dissertations have been written on the character and 
romantic history of Ruth, that a repetition of the familiar narrative, 
or another attempt to set forth the beauties of the Scriptural 
delineation, would be superfluous. We shall dwell upon it a 
moment, however, for the sake of its beautiful and touching 
exhibition of affection in the family relations. 

There was something peculiar in the love of Ruth for her mother- 
in-law. She, as well as Orpah, had parents of her own in Moab ; 
and doubtless the promptings of natural affection pleaded in her 
heart, when she was on the point of leaving them and the country 
of her birth for ever. Both the daughters-in-law had lived with 
Naomi till habit had cemented and strengthened the ties of relation- 
ship ; both loved her for her amiable qualities, and deemed their 
interests so blended with hers that they intended returning with her 
into the land of her people. Both had doubtless been instructed by 
her in the principles of her religion. How was it, then, that when 
Orpah's resolution failed before the prospect of widowhood and 
destitution in a strange country — so that she yielded to Naomi's 
persuasion to turn back — Ruth clung to her the more closely, 
refusing to be separated from her, save by death ! 

It was the religious faith of the Hebrews which Ruth embraced, in 
cleaving to her mother-in-law. Her own family and the friends of 
her youth were dear to her, but she had renounced the gods of her 
people, and henceforth the most lasting bond of sympathy was 
broken. Young as she was, and beautiful, and respected for a 
blameless life, and fair as might have been her prospects at home, 
she could not dwell there in peace, nor find satisfaction for the 

99 



100 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

higher cravings of the soul. She was firm, therefore, in relinquish- 
ing every expectation of worldly advantage, and venturing all 
consequences, to trust under the wings of the Lord God of Israel. 
" Thy God shall be my God," is the soul of her affection, and the 
crowning of her hopes. She is willing to undergo penury and 
hardship ; to such a lot she looks forward, and is prepared to meet 
it ; but she will not let go the bright hope of a future life which she 
has linked with her trustful love for the being who is to be hence- 
forth her only earthly friend. " Where thou diest I will die, and 
there will I be buried," expresses more than the passionate devotion 
of her heart to the object of its cares. It shows the extending of the 
idea of union beyond the associations of mortal life, the expansion 
of affection into the range it can only reach when allied to religion. 
The young Moabitess will have her grave in the land of Israel, 
because it is the country of Jehovah's people ; and near to hers who 
has been her teacher in the belief she has embraced for life and 
death. She attests the sincerity of her profession by a solemn 
appeal to the Lord in whom she trusted. 

We see also here the disinterestedness of Naomi. It does not 
appear that a long time had elapsed after the death of her sons, 
before she formed the resolution of returning to the land of Judah ; 
on the contrary there is reason to believe that her bereavement was 
recent. Deprived of the stay on which she had leaned, — poor, 
afflicted, and aged, — about to taste one of the most painful of all 
humiliations in returning destitute among those who had seen her 
days of affluence, the company of her daughters-in-law was her only 
and sweetest solace. She bears testimony to their dutiful attention 
to her in the blessing she invokes at parting, " The Lord deal kindly 
with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me." But she 
will not ask or receive from them so great a sacrifice as that they 
should renounce home and friends, and go into exile for her sake. 
For them many years of enjoyment might remain, they might form 
other ties, and forget, each in her happy home circle, the widow- 



THE FAMILY OF NAOMI. 101 

hood of her youth. She had no inducement to offer them, for she 
could see only trial and distress in the dreary future this side the 
grave. Scarce a situation in life can be imagined more desolate 
than hers ; and her affectionate heart chooses rather to bear the 
burden alone, than to suffer any part of it to fall on those so dear to 
her. They have done their duty by her ; she can no longer afford 
them protection, and she urges their return to their kindred, com- 
mending them to God with prayers and blessings. 

No more touching scene can be depicted by the imagination, than 
the parting between the three thus endeared by mutual kindness, 
and by having rejoiced and mourned together. Naomi's farewell 
wish, " The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each in the house 
of her husband," shows her conviction that the dark days of sorrow 
would soon be past for them, with her knowledge of what is craved 
by the trustful nature of woman. She could not blight the 
promise of their young life by suffering them to yield to the 
affectionate impulse of the moment. Thus she kindly, but firmly 
bids them leave her to pursue her way alone, giving reasons 
for the necessity of their separation, and grieving for their 
sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out so heavily against her. 
Orpah's resolution gave way, for her attachment to her mother-in- 
law, though sincere, was not strengthened by piety, and could not 
withstand the trial. She bade her a sorrowing farewell, and went 
back " unto her people, and unto her gods." How was " the better 
part" chosen by the faithful Ruth ! Her steadfast determination, 
and its noble expression, silenced the remonstrances of her mother- 
in-law, and the two went their way to Bethlehem. 

All the city, it was said, " was moved about them ;" for the 
sight of Naomi in her reverse of fortune, poor and unattended, save 
by her kind companion, returning desolate and heart-stricken to the 
place where her youthful and happy years were passed, greatly sur- 
prised those who had known her before she went forth. In bitter- 
ness of heart she disclaimed her ancient name as unsuited to her 



102 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

present condition. " Why call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord has 
testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me ?" This 
outbreak of murmuring, extorted by sorrow, soon gave place to 
thankfulness. 

The pious conduct of Ruth towards her mother-in-law, and her 
choice of the religion of Israel, did not escape the knowledge of the 
inhabitants of Bethlehem. Doubtless it was a theme of much con- 
versation among them, and many above her in station invoked a 
blessing on the true-hearted stranger, who had given so affecting an 
evidence of her wish to share in their spiritual privileges. Boaz 
assured her that her story was well known to him ; and he appears 
to have heard of her before he inquired concerning the stranger 
damsel of his servant that was set over the reapers. The example 
was in truth a singular and picturesque one, that one so young and 
lovely should be influenced by her belief in the true God, to forsake 
home and parents, and come among a people she knew not, submit- 
ting to privation and labor, and earning by her industry a main- 
tenance for herself and her relative. •It was not wonderful that 
many should say with Boaz — " The Lord recompense thy work ;" for 
seldom does conduct so disinterested fail to draw down a blessing, 
even in this world. 

The kindness of heart, dignity, and piety of Boaz are strikingly 
shown in the narrative in the second chapter. Although a, man of 
large possessions, he gave his personal superintendence to the reap- 
ing of his field, and partook of their simple fare. His pious saluta- 
tion to the laborers in his employ, with their answer so full of 
respect and affection, is characteristic of him as well as of the 
custom of the time, and illustrates the influence of genuine religion 
in maintaining harmony and good feeling between persons of dif- 
ferent station. Were such the relations always between superiors 
and inferiors, how altered would be the aspect of the world ? 

The beauty of Ruth, and her foreign appearance, probably, first 
arrested the attention of Boaz ; and when, on inquiring about her 



THE FAMILY OF NAOMI. 103 

he learned she was the Moabitish damsel of whom he had heard, 
his humanity was strongly interested for her. Addressing her with 
the kindness of a father, he gave her a hospitable invitation to 
remain in his field, assuring her she should meet with no hindrance, 
but a cordial welcome as often as she chose to come. Then he 
secretly charged his young men to treat her with peculiar respect 
and liberality, as a privileged person, and even to let fall handfuls on 
purpose for her. In this direction he had respect to the law given 
by Moses, forbidding to reap wholly the corners of the field, or to 
gather the gleanings of the harvest, but commanding to leave them 
for the poor and the stranger. When Ruth with great humility 
acknowledged the favor, and asked why she, a stranger, was noticed 
in so friendly a manner, he replied by calling to mind what she had 
done — the rumor of which had come to his ears. His upright soul 
was pleased by such an exhibition of modest virtue, and he honored 
it not only by kind deeds, but by wishing her a full reward irom 
the Lord God of Israel. He had shown good will to Iris deceased 
kinsman, Elimelech, before his removal to the land of Moab, as is 
evident from the acknowledgment of Naomi in the twentieth verse ; 
and his disposition was to continue the kindness to his family, now 
more than ever in need of assistance. In all this he seems to have 
been actuated by motives of purest benevolence, in which no selfish 
affection was mino-led. He saw in Ruth a destitute strano-er, whose 
merits deserved, particularly at the hands of a kinsman of her hus- 
band, the succor she needed, while she, on her part, looked on him 
as one far superior in station to herself. 

Consistent with the delineation so far, appears the character of 
Boaz, when the legal claim upon him was asserted by the fair Moa- 
bitess, at Naomi's instigation. The custom of the Hebrews required 
of a near relation the duty of a brother, of marrying the childless 
widow when the estate was redeemed. When reminded of this 
duty, the conduct of Boaz is worthy of all praise. He had expressed 
no regard for the beautiful foreigner beyond that prompted by 



104 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

humanity and hearty approval of her course ; the disparity in age 
as well as station tended to remove her from his thoughts ; yet he 
could not be insensible to the preference implied in the claim, to 
himself as well as the family of the dead. He evidently imputed 
her conduct to no interested motives, but solely to affection for her 
mother-in-law, respect for the house of Eliinelech, and for the divine 
law. His first words, therefore, are those of commendation and 
blessing, and tended to remove any doubts or fears which might 
have arisen in her heart. With how much delicacy does he assure 
her, in acceding to her claim, of the honorable repute she enjoys 
among all who know her, and her worthiness to be his wife ! But 
the very law she has obeyed in seeking him, interposes an obstacle 
to their union. "There is a kinsman nearer than I." His was a 
prior right, but it might be supposed that he would waive it, as the 
words of Boaz intimate ; and in this expectation the matter was 
dismissed until the morrow. 

Throughout the beautiful story, the character of this honorable 
man shines with equal lustre. It is apparent, in the transaction at 
the city gate, that he is influenced by affection for Ruth ; but he 
suffers not his feelings to stand in the way of his strict discharge of 
duty. The nearer kinsman is appealed to, and declines to fulfil the 
obligation resting upon him. It is, therefore, transferred to Boaz, 
and he formally calls the elders and people to witness that he has 
purchased the land " of the hand of Naomi." Ruth the Moabitess, 
the widow of Mahlon, he has also purchased to be his wife. Well 
did he deserve the benedictions that followed the public recognition 
of his right ; and worthily was his disinterested conduct rewarded, 
by the bestowal of a wife fitted by all the graceful and lofty quali- 
ties that adorn the female character, to build up his house and 
render it famous in Bethlehem. And though he could not know 
the real greatness of the line of which he was the founder, nor had 
intimation of the more than royal majesty of his descendant Ema- 
nuel, yet he was blessed in the offspring of this auspicious marriage. 



THE FAMILY OF NAOMI. 105 

It has been remarked that the mingling of foreign with Jewish blood 
in the ancestors of the Messiah, signified the future union of Gentiles 
with the chosen people, in the Christian church. 

In each of the individuals of this family we may see admirable 
traits, well suited to their several conditions. In Naomi, the resig- 
nation that tempers sorrow, patience under misfortune, tender sensi- 
bility, and disinterestedness ; in Ruth, the most attractive modesty 
and humility, joined with warm affection, fidelity, and piety ; in 
Boaz, generous consideration for others, open truthfulness, and free- 
dom from all that is sordid or selfish, with steadfast rectitude of 
purpose, and dignity of deportment, which could spring only from 
an elevated soul. It is most interesting to observe how these 
qualities act upon each other with a highly dramatic effect in some 
of the various situations ; and how they are enhanced in beauty by 
the romantic coloring thrown over them in the delineation of simple 
pastoral life. The introduction of the narrative, between histories 
full of stirring political events, adds the interest of contrast to the 
quiet domestic picture ; while the evident purpose of its insertion, to 
record information concerning the genealogy of the Saviour, impresses 
us as we read, and strengthens the effect of the lesson so toucliingly 
conveyed. 



XII. 
THE FAMILY OF SAUL. 

In royal families the ties of relationship seldom bind so closely as 
in humbler life. The forms of a court and the duties of public station 
tend to weaken the feeling of mutual dependence, and separate the 
members one from another, while expediency rather than affection 
too often directs the choice which is the root of other relations. 
The career of Saul as a monarch arrests the attention of every 
reader, while his character as a husband and father is touched upon 
more slightly. But we may learn something of it from the promi- 
nent illustrative incidents mentioned in his history. 

When the people of Israel demanded that their form of national 
government should be changed into a monarchy, desiring to have 
then polity like that of other nations, the selection of the sovereign 
was made by divine direction. The first appearance of the son of 
the Benjamitish chieftain produces in the reader's mind a strong 
impression in his favor. He possessed striking advantages of per- 
son, with external accomplishments valued in that age and country 
as peculiarly fitting him for eminent station. The modesty with 
which he disclaimed the distinctions offered him by Samuel, and the 
surprise he expressed at the first intimation of his high destiny, 
show a spirit as yet unsoiled by pride or ambition. When he met 
the company of prophets coming down from the high place, wiih 
psaltery and tabret and pipe and harp, his soul was kindled with 
lofty thoughts, and he joined with such enthusiasm in their hymns 
of praise as to excite the wonder of all who knew him previously, 
and could not account for the sudden change. Yet was this religious 
ardor no fruit of undue exultation in the prospect of the greatness 
that awaited him ; for when the chant was over, and his kinsman 

10G 



THE FAMILY OF SAUL. 107 

questioned him concerning all the prophet had said, he told him 
nothing of the private though solemn anointing, nor of the king- 
dom soon to be his own. Herein was prudence and discretion — 
awaiting the event of what Providence would bring to pass, and 
venturing no interference by acting on the suggestions of his own 
wisdom. He prevented thus the ostentation or the envy of his 
kindred, and the opposition of factious spirits, who might have 
busied themselves before the formal designation of the king, by 
stirring up the minds of the people to discontent. The assembly 
convened at Mizpeh, by Samuel's direction, from all the tribes of 
Israel, for the purpose of choosing a monarch, by appeal to God's 
decision in the way appointed — received the one on whom the lot 
fell, and answered with enthusiastic shouts the prophet's question — 
" See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like 
him among the people ?" So far Saul appears as distinguished by 
a commendable humility of spirit as by superior personal advantages. 
He manifested moreover no impatience to assume the insignia of 
sovereignty, but retired quietly to his home, leaving the administra- 
tion of state affairs in the hands that had so long ably held the 
reins. He heard the murmurs of men disposed to reject his 
authority, w T ho contemptuously refused the customary tokens of 
acknowledgment ; but he prudently refrained from resenting their 
insolence, holding his peace, that civil discords might not disturb the 
beginning of the new state of things, and waiting God's own time 
for action. 

The time came, and he was proved equal to the emergency. The 
monarch of the Ammonites, who had invaded the country bordering 
his territory, besieged the town of Jabesh Gilead, and demanded of 
the inhabitants, who offered to capitulate, that they should submit 
to lose their right eyes, as a mark of subjection and disgrace to the 
Hebrew nation. Even the respite of a few days, granted them to 
entreat succor of their brethren," w r as probably designed to bring 
severer reproach upon all Israel. The news of their desperate con- 



108 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

dition was brought to Gibeah, and filled the inhabitants with grief 
and consternation. The newly elected king, like the Roman dicta- 
tor, had returned to his field and his herd. Coming homeward from 
his rural occupations, he heard the voice of bitter lamentation, 
inquired the cause, and with the tidings the Spirit of God came 
upon him. Fired with generous indignation, the herdsman was 
ready to assume regal authority, and become the leader of armies. 
He hewed a yoke of oxen in pieces, and sending the sign, like the 
burning cross of the Highlanders, through all the coasts of Israel, 
summoned the tribes under threatening in case of disobedience, to 
follow him and Samuel to battle. The army mustered, was led 
against the Ammonites, the enemy defeated and scattered, and the 
victory was signalized by the refusal of Saul to execute vengeance, 
even at the people's request, on the disaffected persons who had 
striven against his elevation. This magnanimity was in keeping 
with the faith which ascribed the glory of his success to the Lord, 
and both promised the happiest results in the continuance of a reign 
which had opened so auspiciously. 

The picture darkens as we follow his career. At Gilgal, when the 
immense army of the Philistines had swept the country, and the 
terrified Hebrews were scattered, hiding themselves in caves and 
woods and rocks, a remnant followed their king in mortal fear of 
the invader, — we see him usurping the priestly function, and offering 
sacrifice in violation of God's commandment, because the coming of 
Samuel was delayed. For this disobedience, the sentence was 
passed which excluded his line from the kingdom. The same 
impatient and presumptuous spirit was shown after the daring 
exploit of his gallant son, by which he was delivered from his 
critical situation at Gibeah. The young man, accompanied by his 
armor-bearer, climbed a rock — one of the enemy's outposts, — killed 
twenty men, and threw such confusion into the camp, aided by the 
terrors of an earthquake, that the panic-stricken men fell upon and 
slew one another. The complete victory of the Israelites which 



THE FAMILY OF SAUL. 109 

ensued was marred by the rash adjuration of Saul, forbidding the 
soldiers to taste food during the day, and adding to his prohibition 
the solemn curse which devoted the enemies of God to destruction. 
When it was found that Jonathan had ignorantly transgressed, the 
king was ready to sacrifice his victorious son, unmindful of his own 
sin in thus troubling the land and paralysing efforts for its 
deliverance. In the expedition against Amalek he again trans- 
gressed the special command laid upon him, reserving the spoil, and 
sparing the life of the monarch ; and when taxed by Samuel with 
disobedience, refused to acknowledge his fault, arrogantly claiming 
the merit of having performed all his duty. Even when compelled, 
by fear of a speedy execution of the sentence denounced against 
him, to own his sin and entreat the prophet's stay, he disingenuously 
laid the blame to the people's charge, and manifested less sorrow at 
having offended God, than dread of forfeiting his own power and 
dignity. In how humiliating a light appears the king returning 
laden with the spoils of victory, as he lays hold on the prophet's 
mantle to detain him, and entreats him for the sake of appearances 
before the elders and his people, not to withhold his presence from 
his religious service. The heart is unhumbled, but the monarch 
trembles for his state and sovereignty. What marvel that Samuel, 
disheartened at these repeated acts of rebellion, and forced to give up 
the hopes he had founded on his early promise, should leave him to 
return no more, and mourn for him, rejected from reigning over Israel ? 
Saul was of a spirit too impatient, and too much governed by 
caprice, to show justice and kindness in his domestic relations. Of 
his wife nothing is said but that she was Ahinoam the daughter of 
Ahimaaz. His sons were Jonathan, Ishui, — elsewhere called Abina- 
dab, and Melchishua, besides Ishbosheth, called Eshbaal; his 
daughters Merab and Michal. Not the closest ties of relationship, 
nor the most signal obligations, could protect from the effects of his 
capricious humor. The youth whose exquisite skill on the harp had 
charmed him into peace during the paroxysms of his madness, who 



110 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

had taken away the reproach from Israel, and slain the champion of 
the Philistines, became the object of his jealous hate when the 
women extolled his fame in their triumphant songs. The elder 
daughter he had promised to David as a reward for his valor, was 
given to another, when the time came for the nuptials. The love 
of the younger daughter was made a snare, that the hand of the 
Philistines might be against him. When Jonathan pleaded for 
David, calling to mind his honorable sendees, Saul was ready to 
swear that his life should be sacred ; but speedily afterwards attempt- 
ed to kill him with his own hand, while he played the harp in his 
presence. Sunk by degrees from the brave warrior into the moody 
tyrant, the slave of his intractable passions, forsaken of God, and 
grovelling beneath the shadow of his darkened spirit, Saul filled 
up the measure of his crimes. The whole range of Scripture 
history offers no more melancholy portraiture. The climax of his 
jealousy and bitterness seems to be reached when he charges 
his own son, the noble Jonathan, with having conspired with 
David against him, and follows up the accusation by the murder 
of the priests. The dark scene preceding the close of his life, 
when the bold warrior who had so many times fronted the 
enemy trembled at their array, and despairing of an answer from the 
offended deity, sought insight into futurity by aid of necromancy, 
exhibits most mournfully the desperation and gloom of his spirit, 
and the depth of degradation into which he had fallen. 

On the other hand, no character in history or romance appears in 
a light more beautiful than that of Jonathan. All noble and 
amiable qualities belonging to the son, the friend, the hero, or the 
man, are united in him, and shine more brightly from the contrasted 
gloom. The gallant exploit which first brings him to notice, his 
almost single-handed attack on the garrison of the Philistines, 
displays his faith and piety as well as his courage ; for he ventures 
not on the hazardous enterprise till assured of success by a sign from 
heaven. But his friendship for David, so full of romantic interest, 



THE FAMILY OF SAUL. Ill 

forms an incident which more than any other relieves the darkness 
of his father's history. 

In all true friendship exists an element of self-sacrifice ; and this 
is remarkable in that of Jonathan for David. He first sees the 
youthful hero under circumstances that might have awakened less 
amiable feelino-s in an ordinary mind. Fresh from the slaughter of 
Goliath, the shepherd's son was an object of attention and admiration 
to all Israel. He stood before the King with the trophy of victory 
in his hand — of a victory which had achieved such important con- 
sequences, presented by Saul's general, who, though ignorant of his 
parentage, was ready to bear testimony to his heroic conduct 
Modestly, yet with suitable dignity, David answered the monarch's 
Questions, while the gentleness and uprightness of his soul were well 
represented in his fair and graceful exterior. It was then that the 
noble spirit of the prince was instantaneously and irresistibly attracted 
by the perception of congenial qualities. He felt no jealousy of 
military glory. His affection sprang up suddenly, but was not the 
less strong and enduring. No language can be more expressive and 
appropriate than that of Scripture, " the soul of Jonathan was knit 
with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." 
The prince was first to love : it is generally the case that the supe- 
rior is first in the bestowal of the unbought priceless gift of affection. 
An Italian writer considers inequality in fortune or endowments a 
great strengthener of friendship, if not absolutely essential to its ex- 
istence. Taking this view, if one would imagine a situation most 
favorable for the birth and growth of human love, it would be one 
like that of Jonathan and David — where the disparity between the 
two in point of external advantages and worldly position was so 
marked — and the real difference so great in powers not yet called 
into action. Conscious as Jonathan must have been of a mysterious 
superiority in the young stranger, before which his spirit instinctively 
bowed itself, he could not but know that in the proffer of his friend- 
ship he occupied the position of one bestowing, not receiving favor. 



112 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

David, too, must have esteemed himself honored in the covenant 
formed with him by one so high in rank, so distinguished by military 
renown, and endeared to the people. But the generous devotion of 
Jonathan knew no restraint ; he stripped off his own princely robe, 
and gave it to the youth, with his girdle, and bow, and sword, — an 
impulsive expression of the love that could withhold nothing. The 
affection of David was the offspring of gratitude, for he could make 
no return to the marks of favor received. 

It was not long before the fidelity thus solemnly pledged was put 
to the test. The jealousy rankling in the king's distempered mind 
created the most implacable enmity towards David, which at length 
broke forth in the avowed purpose of taking his life. Aware that 
the stripling was nominated to be his successor, to the exclusion of 
his own sons, he appealed to Jonathan to aid him in removing so 
formidable a rival, and laid the same command on all his servants. 
But no motives of ambition could influence so pure and lofty a 
spirit. Jonathan lost no time in warning his friend of danger, and 
pleaded for him with such calm, earnest, and persuasive eloquence, 
that malignity itself was for the time disarmed, and he procured a 
reconciliation between Saul and David. Judging his father by his 
own frank and honorable nature, he esteemed his friend safe thence- 
forward ; but when convinced that the king's hostility was as deadly 
as ever, he devoted himself wholly to David's service. In the large- 
ness of his love he promised to do everything — to sacrifice everything 
for him. " Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee." 
No consideration could outweigh that of David's interests ; he recog- 
nised in him the chosen of Heaven, and willingly relinquished his 
own claims to the kingdom. His religious faith perceived that 
David was under the special protection of the Most High, and that 
all his enemies must eventually fall before him. Thus he looked 
forward to the future monarch's power and greatness, even in the 
moment when there seemed but a step between him and death ; and 
asked his favor for his children, when he was an outcast and perse- 



THE FAMILY OF SAUL. 113 

cuted, shielded from destruction only by his generous interposition. 
No selfish feeling or wish, however, mingled with his devotion. 
Again and again he caused David to swear in the covenant between 
them — and the reason is added — "for he loved him as he loved his 
own souV He would bind him more and more closely to himself, 
for the loss of his affection would have been bitterer to him than any 
other loss — even of life itself. 

David, on his part, had not this sense of his own superiority or 
advantage. He called to mind the covenant into which they had 
entered at Jonathan's desire, and entreated, if iniquity were found 
in him, that he would slay him, rather than give him up to the 
king. Some distrust was here implied, not of Jonathan's regard or 
constancy, but his knowledge of Saul's real intentions, or his firmness 
to withstand his father's anger in protecting him. " What if thy 
father answer thee roughly ?" David asked, when the proposition 
was made to sound him. How nobly did the prince vindicate from 
all suspicion the inviolable fidelity of his friendship, in the scene that 
ensued "with the infuriated monarch, when his own life was madly 
attempted, because he boldly appealed to Saul's sense of justice in 
David's behalf! He hastened from the presence of the king in grief 
and indignation, not so much for the fierce assault on himself, as the 
relentless hate it manifested towards his friend. His true heart 
" was grieved for David." -The final and fatal rupture was inevitable ; 
David must be driven forth a hunted fugitive, while the harder lot 
of continual strife with the evil that environed him, was to be his 
while life endured. 

Once more, in the wood of Ziph, the friends met, and pledged 
anew their mutual vows of everlasting fidelity. The fortunes of 
David were apparently at their lowest ebb ; his life sought by the 
king as an open enemy ; betrayed by those he had saved from their 
foes, and who had given him shelter ; a wanderer in the wilderness, 
and surrounded by treacherous enemies, watchful to deliver him into 
Saul's hand. Yet here the language of Jonathan was full of comfort 



114 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

and assurance. lie " strengthened his hand in God" — directing his 
hopes to the source of his own steadfast confidence, and bidding him 
fear not — for it was settled in the divine purpose that he should 
escape all snares, and be king over Israel. How strikingly does this 
exhibition of Jonathan's feelings show the religious foundation of 
genuine friendship ! His faith has proved victorious over all doubts 
and fears for the beloved ; in the darkest hour he sees the approach 
of the day of prosperity, and his heart rejoiced in the prospect. 
What earthly affection could be more disinterested, more fervent, 
more touching and sublime ! 

Koster, a German writer, has published an essay upon " The 
tragical quality in the history of the friendship of David and Jona- 
than. 1 '^ " The history," he says, " is tragical, since, either in itself or 
in its consequences, it so exhibits important events, that our sympa- 
thy is awakened, and our sensibility deeply excited. An action is 
strongly characterized as tragical, when, though never fully accom- 
plished, it exhibits a vehement struggle after something good, lofty, 
and noble, developed by a complication of circumstances, involving 
a severe struggle between inclination and duty, or between two con- 
flicting inclinations." How much of this entered into the history of 
Jonathan's love for David, may be seen by dwelling on the painful 
circumstances in which he was often placed, in the collision between 
dutiful respect to Ins father and sovereign, and loyalty to his friend. 
By his zealous defence of David, he had incurred the deep resent- 
ment of Saul, who did not scruple to accuse him of joining in the 
conspiracy against him, and even of stirring up his subject to rise in 
rebellion. Aware of this from the first, Jonathan did not provoke 
the angry king by any pertinacious display of his partisanship ; after 
the hope of reconciliation was at an end, his meetings with David 
were held in secret. He followed the fortunes of his father, though 

* Translated in " Selections from German Literature," by Professors Ed- 
wards and Park. Andover. 



THE FAMILY OF SAUL. 115 

his heart was rent in twain by the cruel persecution of him he loved 
better than life. In the last fatal battle of Mount Gilboa he fought 
and fell beside Saul. Here, as Koster truly observes, the noble 
Jonathan removed gloriously the stain which had been publicly 
fastened on him, and freed his honor from the suspicion of treason. 
The beautiful elegy composed by David in honor of his memory, 
expressly vindicates him from the unjust accusation. 

In the picture of Jonathan's friendship, therefore, we see concen- 
trated the noblest qualities — the highest virtues which have ever 
adorned human nature. The example is the brighter and more 
touching from the contrast of the hateful passions of the vindictive 
monarch, and the turbulence and darkness of the period. All the 
sensibility to domestic attachments of which Saul was once capable, 
was swallowed up in his cherished envy, suspicion, and hatred. The 
malignant influence corrupted his whole mind, till ravaged by the 
storm it became a waste of desolation, under the wrath and curse 
of Heaven. The ardent affection of Jonathan purified his heroic soul 
from every selfish feeling, and taught him to discover and acquiesce 
in the purpose of God, though it deprived him of a crown, and con- 
signed him to an early death. 



XIII. 
THE FAMILY OF DAVID. 

In the history of the wild and adventurous life of David, while 
seeking refuge in woods and caves and desert fastnesses from the 
pursuit of Saul, there are touches full of meaning which unfold his 
character as a man, — brave, generous, impulsive, yet magnanimous, 
with spirit born for dominion, aspiring to lofty things, but subdued 
through faith to implicit submission to the Divine will. The slight 
account given of his early years shows him affectionate and faithful 
in his relations to Ms family. The youngest of his brethren — 
although attractive in person and disposition, he appeared invested 
with no preference over them, but pursued his humble and laborious 
occupation while they passed before Samuel for his choice of a king. 
Either his own modesty, or his father's disregard of his qualifications, 
prevented his coming at first among them to undergo the scrutiny. 
He was obedient to Jesse, as well after as before his anointing to be 
the successor of Saul ; nor do we find that the prospect of elevation to 
the throne inflated his mind with pride or ambition, or changed his 
deportment towards others who had a right to control his actions. 
After his honorable reception at court, and the tokens of favor re- 
ceived from the monarch whose malady he had relieved by playing 
on the harp, he returned contentedly to Bethlehem, his duty being 
accomplished, to resume his employment of keeping his father's 
sheep. At Jesse's command, he went to the camp to carry provisions 
to his brethren, and bring back tidings of their welfare. There the 
haughty and insulting challenge of the Philistine fired his generous 
soul with indignation, and with zeal for the honor of God and his 
country. He replied with mildness to the unkind accusations of his 
eldest brother, not even repelling them, but simply calling his atten- 

116 



THE FAMILY OF DAVID. 11 7 

tion to the cause — sufficient to justify the interest he had manifested, 
and the expression of his feeling. 

Merab, the eldest daughter of Saul, was promised to David by the 
jealous king as a reward for his valor, but in the hope that his rash 
bravery might lead him into some fatal encounter with the Philis- 
tines. But when the time came for the espousals, she was given to 
another. The affection of the younger daughter, Michal, for the 
youthful hero, was well known ; of that the infatuated monarch 
determined to take advantage, and urge David to his undoing. The 
invidious condition proposed was more than fulfilled ; there was no 
excuse" for withholding his daughter, and Saul gave her, though 
stirred to deeper malignity, and fearing David the more, on account 
of the success of his enterprise, and the love with which he was 
regarded by two of his own children. The affection borne him by 
Michal and Jonathan, bestowed by both unsought, and clinging to 
him through peril and misfortune, seemed to the king's distempered 
mind to forebode his future advancement, and establishment in the 
hearts of those who were most bound to favor his own cause. Other 
evidences of his popularity and increasing renown at length caused the 
outbreak of secret malevolence into open and irreconcilable hostility. 

When David sought refuge from Saul in the cave of Adullam, 
1 Samuel xxii., his brethren and all his father's house came to 
him. Distrusting his own power for their protection, and unwilling 
that they should share his peril, he went to Mizpeh, and said to the 
King of Moab, " Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come 
forth and be with you, till I know what God will do for me." How 
touching is the solicitude thus evinced for his parents' safety, and 
how illustrative is the incident of his character as a son ! 

A celebrated English authoress* has drawn David as a hero, so 
simply yet so beautifully, in the colors of the Scriptural history, that 
I gladly substitute her remarks for anything I could say on the sub- 
ject :— 

" If you institute the comparison between David and the Homeric 
* Miss Jewsburv in her Letters. 



118 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

chiefs, or with any recorded in classic and chivalrous history, or im- 
mortalized in romance and song, you will find none so perfect as a 
hero. Separate him altogether from the prophet and the saint, and 
regard him simply as a warrior who lived at a period when war was 
the occupation of life, and personal prowess the sole distinction of 
character. And what do you find ? At the outset you have realized 
romance in the ruddy shepherd boy, called from his songs and his 
sheep, to be anointed to a crown. You have the daring of valor in 
his fearless combat with Goliath, and its simplicity in his unboasting 
conquest ; whilst his minstrelsy in the court of Saul, his marriage 
with that monarch's daughter, the first and last days of his -friend- 
ship with the princely Jonathan, his chivalrous generosity of spirit 
in contrast with the cold, mean, settled hatred of his persecutor, sug- 
gest a thousand pictures to the heart and imagination. Examine 
him then in his wanderings, and in his subsequent prosperity as king 
of Israel ; — you will find the heroic traits still strong upon his cha- 
racter. Observe his forbearance under injuries which, united with 
power to avenge them, was unexampled, as opinions and manners 
were then constituted. Mark his readiness to acknowledge the 
merit of an opponent, proved by his expressions concerning Saul, 
Abner, and Ishbosheth ; his recollection of kindness long since past ; 
— witness his embassy to Hanun ; his munificence of spirit, and 
complete freedom from sordid selfishness ; — witness his care that all 
who tarried by the stuff should share like those that went down to 
the battle ; his sending, from his private portion of the spoil of the 
Amalekites, presents to all Avhom he ' and his men were wont to 
haunt ;' and his anxiety to prevent Ittai the Gittite from joining 
him in his flight from Absalom, because he ' was a stranger and an 
exile.' His refusal to drink the water, which, prompted by his 
urgent desire, the three mighty men brake through the host of the 
Philistines to draw from the well of Bethlehem, is another fine in- 
stance of generous self-denial ; finer even than that recorded of Sir 
Philip Sydney, because connected with noble contrition for his for- 



THE FAMILY OF DAVID. 119 

mer want of self-government. ' He poured it out unto the Lord, 
and said, My God forbid it me that I should do this thing ; shall I 
drink the blood of these men that have put their lives in jeopardy ? 
for with the jeopardy of their lives they brought it. Therefore 
he would not drink it.' Perhaps, however, the instance in which 
David manifested the loftiest spirit, that which combined in itself 
most of the elements of true greatness, was the kingly offering 
he made out of his own proper goods to the service of that temple 
he was forbidden to build, renouncing at the same moment all credit 
for his munificence. ' Who am I, and what is my people that we 
should be able to offer so willingly after this sort ? for all things 
come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.' But David 
was not merely a ' mighty man of valor :' he possessed qualities it 
was impossible any heathen could possess, and which were his solely 
by virtue of his knowledge of the true God. It is this remarkable 
union of contrary endowments which renders his heroic character so 
perfect. Comparing him with other heroes of old, though acknow- 
ledging all their bravery and all their force of mind, we may alter 
the words of Manfred, and say that David had — 

" ' Not these alone, but with them gentler powers ; 
Pity, and smiles, and tears, which they had not ; 
And gentleness — but that they had for some — 
Humility — and that they never had.' " 

The character of Michal, as delineated by one or two touches in 
the history, deserves attention. She seems to have possessed a por- 
tion of Jonathan's chivalrous spirit — his admiration of gallant 
exploits and heroic qualities — mingled with some of the pride and 
imperiousness of her royal father. The first appeared in her en- 
thusiastic attachment to the victorious hero, which probably she took 
no pains to conceal. All her imagination could paint of the lovely 
and glorious was realized in his character. When she became his 
wife, her duty to him and care for his safety were paramount 



120 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

to every other consideration. Her father having proclaimed his 
enmity towards her husband, and his determination to persecute him 
to the death — the cause of David was her own. He came home in 
haste and perturbation, having narrowly escaped death by Saul's 
own hand, in a violent paroxysm of his phrensy. He knew not as 
yet how implacable was the enmity against him, till the messengers 
whom the king sent to take him were about his house, watchful to 
apprehend him as he should come forth in the morning. Michal 
was the first to warn him of the imminent peril in which he stood, 
and urge his escape that night. It is not mentioned that she had 
received any secret information concerning her father's intentions ; 
but the penetration of anxious affection may have discovered them. 
She assisted David to escape from the house under cover of night, 
and contrived an ingenious stratagem to gain time for him to elude 
pursuit. The messengers of Saul, who came with orders to bear 
him to the monarch's presence, that he might gratify his hate by 
slaying him with his own hand, discovered the deception. But 
when the angry king demands of his daughter how she dared con- 
nive at the escape of his enemy, and impose on him — the falsehood 
she utters in vindication of her conduct is unworthy of the hero's 
•«ife. She did not firmly withstand, like her noble brother, the out- 
break of her father's rage, nor oppose reason to his blind fury. In 
this subterfuge, which had not even the excuse of necessity — for it is 
not likely that Saul would have wreaked his vengeance on her — she 
appears far less admirable than Jonathan, doing wrong to the repu- 
tation which should have been most sacred in her eyes, while she 
pretended fear of David. Had she boldly justified herself on the 
great principle of right and duty, or reproved her father for his 
unnatural enmity, she might possibly have escaped the anguish of a 
violent separation from him she loved so tenderly — in being given 
to another. Perhaps the same dread of Saul's displeasure, which 
had induced her to depart from the truth, brought her to submit to 
this degradation. 



THE FAMILY OF DAVID. 121 

After the accession of David to the throne, when Abner, the 
general of Ishbosheth, proposed to join his party, and bring 
over all Israel to his side, the condition on which David con- 
sented to receive him into his service was, that his wife Michal 
should be restored to him. He sent to Ishbosheth a formal 
demand for his sister, whom he claimed as his own, having 
paid Saul the dowry required for her at the peril of his life. His 
motive for this demand was probably regard for the beloved wife of 
his youth, who had shared his early days of prosperity, and suffered 
in his adversity ; although some have surmised that he wished to 
secure his political interests by asserting his relationship to the de- 
ceased monarch, or to vindicate the law of God, onenly violated in 
the compulsory marriage of Michal to Phaltiei. The claim was 
acknowledged, and Michal restored accordingly. Phaltiei had a 
strong affection for her ; it is recorded that he followed her weeping 
as far as Bahurim ; not walking by her side, as one about to be torn 
from an endeared companion, whose grief at the parting was no less 
than his own — but behind her, as unworthy to be her equal, or to 
win even a look from her when she was leaving him for ever. The 
command to return was given, not by her, but by the general who 
accompanied her as an escort. Phaltiei obeyed it in despair, 
while the princess, probably heeding little his anguish or his love, 
pursued her way to the high fortune that awaited her as David's 
wife — to the happiness of a reunion with him who had possessed her 
youthful affections. 

The conduct of Michal on the occasion of the bringing of the ark 
in triumphal procession to the city David had chosen for his royal 
residence, shows her character in no amiable light. After the 
establishment of his capital on the hill of Zion, it was the next step 
of David to provide a place for the tabernacle and the ark of God, 
that a religious spirit might be promoted throughout the land by 
the regular and solemn performance of the sacred services. The 
preparations being completed for the reception of the ark, a feast was 

6 



122 FAMILY PICTURES FKO:.I TIT C BIBLE. 

made for the people, and it was brought up into the city m the 
midst of the rejoicing multitude, with festal shouting and dancing 
and the sound of trumpets, and the magnificent song of praise 
composed for the occasion by the royal minstrel. It was a day of 
great joy for Israel, after the years of civil strife and war with foreign 
enemies, when the land had groaned under the weight of oppression 
and violence. The coming of the ark to its permanent place of 
abode, the place of solemn assemblage for the tribes henceforward, 
was a token of the peace and prosperity that should bless the nation 
under the reign of the king God had given them in mercy. Kindled 
with holy enthusiasm, David had laid aside his royal robes, and 
girded him with a linen ephod, forgetful of his rank and state, eager 
to be lowly in the sight of God, and to mingle with the people as 
one of themselves. While he gave expression to the emotions of 
his heart by the tokens of joy and thankfulness customary in festal 
religious services, there was one gazing upon him from the window 
of his palace, who took no part in the general delight. The daughter 
of Saul had been accustomed to little veneration for the sacred 
ordinances, nor had she a spiritual perception of the blessings of 
which the presence of the ark was a pledge. She had looked with 
complacency on David when, at the head of thousands, he had gone 
forth to battle, or returned crowned with victory ; she despised him 
when he voluntarily stripped himself of royal dignity and appeared 
as one of the meanest of the people, for she thought his zealous 
transports unbecoming the monarch, and tending to make him 
contemptible in the eyes of his subjects. This incident shows her 
want of appreciation of David's character, as well as her overweening- 
regard for appearances and temporal honors. Had she truly loved 
her royal husband, sympathy with his feelings would have taught 
her respect for their demonstration, even could she not have entered 
into the national enthusiasm. But her pride was greater than her 
love ; and, that being offended, no affection restrained the reproach 
that sprang to her lips. ^Vhen David had made an end of offering 



THE FAMILY OF DAVID. 123 

sacrifices, and had blessed the people, distributing portions to all, he 
returned home to join his household in a feast of thanksgiving. 
There is significance in the Scriptural description of Michal as " the 
daughter of Saul." Her father's haughty spirit was in her looks 
and words as she came forth to meet David, with ironical, con- 
temptuous, bitter speech which displayed her passion and folly, and 
to which her husband replied in a manner so worthy of one who 
considered the favor of the Lord his greatest glory. After this 
occurrence, she is mentioned no more in the sacred history, except 
that it is said she remained childless to her death. 

Very different was the conduct of Abigail, another wife of David. 
She is described as being " of a good understanding, and of a 
beautiful countenance ;" expressions which comprehend all personal 
graces and mental gifts that adorn the female character. She was 
the wife of Nabal, a man who had large possessions, but who in 
temper and conduct was utterly unworthy of her. David's troops 
had not only refrained from injuring the servants of JSTabal, but had 
given protection to their pastures and flocks ; and in return he 
requested a supply of provisions. The message was answered by 
the churlish man with refusal embittered by insult ; and David 
prepared to avenge himself. His anger was arrested by the 
prudence and ingenuity of Abigail. Taking with her propitiatory 
gifts, she rode forth, attended by her servants, to meet David and 
his men armed for their hostile expedition. Her conduct at the 
encounter displays consummate judgment and discretion. Mindful 
of the provoking taunts of Nabal, she hastened to pay him the 
reverence due to a superior, to address him in the most humble and 
deprecating language, and entreat that the blame of the transaction 
might rest on herself. Her whole address is admirable for the 
wisdom, delicacy, good feeling, and piety it exhibits ; in her 
intimation that the well-known character of Nabal for insolence and 
churlishness should place him beneath the notice of David; her 
expression of confidence that God himself had interposed to keep his 



124 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

servant from revenge and bloodshed ; that the sure protection of 
Heaven would be his, since evil had not been found in him ; that 
his life should be preserved in spite of persecution, and he should 
finally be advanced to the kingdom. Her allusion to David's 
military services, and her suggestion, conveyed in a manner which 
could give no offence, that remorse and repentance would follow 
hasty and causeless violence — with the other persuasive arguments 
she employs — display so much of what is in modern days called 
tact, as to justify the belief that Abigail was a woman of singular 
intellectual endowments. Her modesty and faith were not less 
remarkable, and seem to have had the most powerful effect upon 
the mind of David. He was thankful for her interference, chiefly 
because it preserved him from shedding blood to avenge himself. 
Her petition and her offering were accepted, and she returned home 
to the husband she had saved, to find him grovelling in excess. It 
was not long ordained that she should surfer a fate worse than that 
inflicted by Mezentius, who bound the living to the dead. After 
Nabal's death, David sent messengers to Carmel, with proposals of 
marriage to the beautiful and gifted woman who had rescued him 
from the dominion of his own anger, and whose prudent conduct 
had secured his admiration and esteem. Abigail received his 
message as feeling herself honored by it, and gave her consent with 
the wonted oriental expression of humility and submission. Attend- 
ed by five of her maidens, she again rode forth to meet him, no 
longer a trembling suppliant, but a welcome and beloved guest, to 
become his companion through all his trials, and to share the state 
her faith in God had taught her to anticipate for him. 

In the descent of the Amalekites upon Ziklag in the absence of 
David and his men, his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, were 
carried away captives. He pursued and overtook the enemy, slaugh- 
tered them without mercy, and rescued the prisoners. These two 
of his wives were with him during his temporary exile in the land 
of the Philistines, when he fled from Saul to Achish. 



THE FAMILY OF DAVID. 125 

The crimes committed by David to obtain Bathsheba for his wife, 
not only interrupted the peace of his soul with his Maker, but 
destroyed his peace as the father of a family. The first bitter fruit 
was tasted in the death of the child of Uriah's wife. In the deep 
anguish of David we see the strength of his parental feelings. This 
passionate love of his children was wounded in his punishment, as in 
his sin he had outraged all that is sacred in the domestic relations. 
It was the turning point in his fortunes ; thenceforward the sword 
did not depart from his house, over which hung the malediction of 
Heaven. The wickedness of his sons was the source of the disasters 
which covered with gloom the remainder of his life. The dark 
tragedy of Ammon was followed by the rebellion of Absalom, whom 
the king had recalled from his banishment for his brother's murder, 
and with ill-judged lenity had re-admitted to his presence and favor. 
The outbreak of the revolt, for which artful preparations had long 
been making by the ambitious prince, the horrors of civil war, fol- 
lowed, with the retreat of David from his capital, under the weight 
of his bitter humiliation. Yet, driven forth by his ungrateful people 
— his throne usurped, and his life sought by his own son — humbled 
under a sense of his guilt before God — an outcast surrounded by 
peril, when the decisive battle is fought, his last charge to the cap- 
tains of _ his army, in the hearing of the people, is to respect the 
young man Absalom. How melancholy is the picture of the king 
awaiting tidings of the battle in the gates of Mahanaim ! The 
pious Ahimaaz, who first brings news of the victory, would fain pre- 
pare his mind, by suspense, for the fatal event ; but the next mes- 
senger reveals all. The immoderate and imprudent grief of David 
shows the fond excess of his parental love. " The king was much 
moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept ; and 
as he wept, thus he said : O, my son Absalom ! my son, my son 
Absalom ! Would to God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my 
son, my son!" The victory was turned into mourning, and the 



12G FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

people who had triumphed " got them by stealth that day into the 
city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle," 
while their sovereign gave way to the anguish of his bereavement. 

Miss Jewsbury, in another of her admirable Letters, draws an 
ingenious parallel between this Scripture narrative and a scene in 
Shakspeare's tragedy of Macbeth : — " The announcement to Macduff 
of the murder of his family, and to David of the death of Absalom. 
The spirit and construction are essentially the same, and it is inte- 
resting to see how closely a first-rate production of art approximates 
to the simplicity of nature. The transcendent dramatist has only 
been natural ; the simple narrator of events has been dramatic. 
Both represent a bereaved parent, and that parent's grief, in heart- 
broken, heartbreaking words. When the watchman reports the 
approach of Ahimaaz, and David replies, ' He is a good man, and 
cometh with good tidings,' we have one of the subtlest springs 
of human nature touched without design. Yet, who does not know 
the operation of that principle which hopes or fears according to the 
medium by which intelligence is conveyed, and again reflects back 
upon that medium the precise feeling which the intelligence has 
excited ! Shakspeare gives a tine illustration of this in another 
place, where he makes Constance say to the bearer of ill tidings — 

' Thy news hath made thee a most ugly man.' 

" Then follows another of those delicate touches which go home 
and instantly to the heart. Of each succeeding messenger David 
asks but one question, for his soul knows but one anxiety ; it concerns 
not the battle, though upon that is his crown depending — but ' Is 
the young man Absalom safe !' In the history and the tragedy the 
messengers alike give evasive replies in the first instance, and the 
sufferers are represented as guessing the truth before they hear it. 
David, more unkinged by grief than by his son's rebellion, rose from 



THE FAMILY OF DAVID, 127 

his place, and ' went up to the chamber above the gate ;' he asked 
no farther question, desired no other intelligence, and craved no 
royal privilege, save the privilege to weep alone. His people were 
gathering round — those who had saved and those who had injured 
him ; — the din of battle and the shout of victory were in his ear ; — 
he saw and heard, but heeded not, for his soul was gone forth to 
Absalom, cut off in the full blossom of his iniquities ; — to Absalom, 
his beautiful and brave ; — ' and the victory that day was turned into 
mourning.' His recovered crown, his re-established throne, were 
vain comforters for his lost child. In David we see the monarch 
forgotten in the father ; in Macduff, after the first paroxysm of sor- 
row, the husband and father become merged in the warrior, who 
resolves to make him ' medicine's of his great revenge. 1 This is 
characteristic ; but had both been poetic imaginations, we cannot 
doubt which would have been considered of the highest order. One 
other observation on this passage. In David mourning over Absa- 
lom, one would think that pathos reached its climax ; but it does 
not till the subsequent chapter, where his grief is rebuked by the 
imperious Joab ; and at the suggestion (command more properly) 
of the slayer of his son, he goes again to sit in the gate, ' speak- 
comfortably unto his servants,' and seem to forget his child. With 
this assumed self-control, and real submission to the will of others, 
remember that David was ' a lion-like man,' one whom his own 
soldiers pronounced the ' light of Israel.' " 

The latter days of David were disturbed by the ambitious preten- 
sions of Adonijah, the brother of Absalom, to the royal succession. 
He too, it appears, had been injudiciously indulged by his father, 
and too closely resembled his brother in his ingratitude, his impe- 
rious disposition, and his affectation of regal pomp. Informed of 
his conspiracy in time, David lost no time in having Solomon 
anointed and proclaimed as king. 

In the midst of his splendor and prosperity, David forgot not his 
covenant with Jonathan, but showed kindness to his son, Mephibo- 



128 FAMILY FIC1CKES FROM THE BIBLE. 

sheth, for his sake. We see from this as well as other instances of 
conduct, that he was a man of warm affections, such as, regulated by 
prudence and controlled by religion, might have rendered his domes- 
tic life as happy as his reign was illustrious. But through his own 
folly and guilt all this was marred, till the springs whence flow the 
purest streams of human happiness, poured forth turbid waters that 
fertilized not, but swept all before them to destruction. Let the 
solemn warning of David's example instruct all who read his 
history. 



XIV-. 

THE FAMILY OF SOLOMON. 

The oath of David that Solomon should reign after him was 
given to Bathsheba his mother, but no't merely to please her ambi- 
tion or show her favor. He was appointed of God from his birth 
to the throne, and his father, in designating him for his successor, 
spoke by the Spirit of the Lord. That Bathsheba had influence, is 
evident from the application of Nathan the prophet to her in the 
emergency of Adonijah's usurpation, and his intimation that her 
own life, as well as that of her son, was in danger from the fears of 
the prince, should his power, already formidable through the aid of 
Joab and Abiathar, become established. Adonijah's subsequent 
petition to her, that she would obtain Solomon's consent to his mar- 
riage with Abishag, was made because he believed the king would 
not refuse any request preferred by her. He calculated not only upon 
her kindness of heart, but her want of penetration ; nor was he mis- 
taken, for she dreamed not of the insidious design concealed under 
his proposal, and presented his petition as if it had been her own. 
Solomon, on the other hand, saw through the artifice at once. The 
possession of the wives or harem of a deceased sovereign was con- 
nected in popular opinion with the title to his crown. Absalom 
thus asserted his claim to his father's kingdom, and the quarrel 
between Ishbosheth and Abner was occasioned by a similar step 
towards the accomplishment of ambitious schemes. The artful 
character of Adonijah had been shown by his previous conduct ; it 
was now evident that he and his adherents had not relinquished 
their plans, nor their hopes of ultimate success ; and it became ne- 
cessary for the security and peace of the kingdom that such restless 
and scheming aspirants should be removed out of the way. The 

(3% ]29 



130 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

sternness of the king in pronouncing the doom, and ordering the 
execution of his brother, must be justified as necessary for the pre- 
vention of civil war, and the establishment of his authority over the 
whole nation. He speaks as certain of the Divine approval of his 
decision. In this very scene his reverence 1 and affection for his 
mother are strikingly manifested. When she came into his presence 
he rose to meet her, and rendered her the homage of an obeisance, 
such as was common from an inferior to a superior. Then resuming 
his seat upon his throne — for it is probable the interview was in pub- 
lic — he caused a seat to be set for her at his right hand, thus 
honoring her before all the people as " the king's mother." When 
she spoke of her petition, he answered with respectful tenderness, 
bidding her say on, for that nothing she could ask would be denied ; 
a promise which implied the supposition that the request would be 
such as it became her to make, and him to grant. As she attempt- 
ed no remonstrance when he pronounced the sentence of death, it 
is likely she was immediately convinced of her error, and acquiesced* 
in its justice. 

The reign of Solomon brought the Hebrew empire to its period 
of greatest extent and splendor. Both his internal government and 
foreign treaties were regulated with consummate wisdom, so as to 
secure the peace of his subjects and the respect of neighboring- 
nations. Commerce flowed through his territories ; his wealth was 
immense ; his sumptuous palaces, and the magnificence that sur- 
rounded him, realized the gorgeous dreams of oriental imagination ; 
the fame of his luxury and his wisdom spread into distant lands, 
and brought princes to pay the homage of their admiration, and 
wonder at an understanding and knowledge surpassing that of other 
men. So great and widely extended was the renown of his riches, 
and honor, and wisdom, that eastern tradition invested him with 
supernatural powers, and sovereignty over the world of genii and 
spirits. Still higher distinction, it was permitted him to build a 
house for the Lord of Hosts — the temple which was to be the dwell- 



THE FAMILY OF SOLOMON. 131 

ino; of Him whom heaven and the heaven of heavens could not 
contain. He was favored of God, and received the promise of the 
kingdom for his posterity, as it had been made before, on the condi- 
tion of persevering obedience. The brightness of this life and reign 
were tarnished — their termination fatally clouded by such folly on 
the part of the wisest of men, as must furnish to all who read his 
history a melancholy and humiliating lesson. 

The first marriage of Solomon seems to have been with JSTaamah, 
the Ammonitess, since her son, Rehoboam, was born a year before 
his accession to the throne. Soon after he became king, he formed 
a treaty of alliance with the monarch of Egypt, and solemnly 
espoused his daughter. She resided in Jerusalem only till the com- 
pletion of the temple and the royal palace, and then removed into 
a palace built expressly for her in another part of the country. 
Solomon's reason for assigning her this residence is given in the 
Second Book of Chronicles : " My wife shall not dwell in the house 
of David, King of Israel, because the places are holy, whereunto 
the ark of the Lord hath come." Though supposed to be a prose- 
lyte, she was a stranger by birth to the covenant and the privileges 
of Israel ; her court might be frequented by those who had no part 
with the chosen people, or despised the ordinances they held sacred, 
and the guardian of the national worship deemed it not right that 
the place of the sanctuary should be profaned by the presence of 
idolaters. Happy for him and his people had it been, had his 
regard for the faith of his country been always thus inviolate ! 

The cause of the sad change in Solomon's later years is pointedly 
indicated. His love for the women of heathen extraction whom he 
had married, led him not merely to countenance the worship of the 
different deities in which they believed, but himself to join in their 
idolatrous services, consecrating high places for the purpose, and one 
on the hill before Jerusalem, in view of the temple he had built 
and dedicated to the God of earth and heaven. We read of no 
more melancholy instance of human depravity. He who in infancy 



132 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

had been named " beloved of the Lord," who had been reared in 
the precepts of a spiritual religion by the example of a father 
whose heart was set to obey them — who had been honored with 
such glorious gifts of intellect, power, and prosperity, beyond all 
the kings of earth — whose fame had gone into all lands, and 
should live to the end of time — whose wisdom had been a light and 
instruction to the world — that he should fall into such weakness and 
depravity ! He had summed up his estimate of human greatness 
and enjoyment in the sentence, ' ; Vanity of vanities !" a conclusion 
taught by the experience of a life crowded with all the pleasures 
and the grandeur of the world ; his apostasy now showed the worth 
of human ability. It is not recorded that the princess of Egypt 
beguiled him to join in the worship of her country's gods ; and 
perhaps the pride of having kept his allegiance to the national faith 
in this instance led him to indulge his roving fancy in the choice of 
wives from the neighboring nations, against alliance with whom 
the Israelites had been expressly warned, with a declaration of the 
consequence — " Surely they will turn away your heart after their 
gods." In the confidence of superior intellect Solomon presumed 
to violate this injunction, and forgetting the world-old truth — woe to 
the man who entertains temptation ! — became guilty of the high 
treason to the sovereignty of heaven, which forfeited the kingdom 
of Israel for his descendants. 

We see thus the fatal error of this wise, magnificent, and power- 
ful monarch, to have been in his domestic relations. Choosing for 
beauty rather than for higher qualities, he yielded no better judg- 
ment to vain allurements, and surrendered the dominion of his 
spirit into hands that drew him from the path of right. Not at 
once, it is probable, did he trample on the most solemn obligations 
of a Jewish monarch. He had no deliberate design of disloyalty ; 
he was unguarded, because he thought his purpose honest ; he 
but turned aside, tempted by free will, and in the wantonness of 
independence, one step from the trodden path of duty, keeping that 



THE FAMILY OF SOLOMON. 133 

close beside him that he might regain it when he pleased. He 
meant at first merely to grant a reasonable privilege to those who 
had forsaken home and country for him, with freedom of conscience 
to worship in the faith of their own nation. Thus by degrees his 
heart was turned away from the truth, and his attendance on 
heathen rites set an example of flagrant apostasy to the whole 
nation. The picture darkens as we gaze upon it. Enemies were 
raised up around him in his declining years ; rebellion and discon- 
tent environed him ; the son of his servant, encouraged by the pre- 
diction that he should govern the ten tribes, ventured to lift up his 
hand against the king. His kingdom disquieted and insecure — his 
subjects murmuring, and involved in the guilt of his idolatry — re- 
proved if not rejected for ever of the God of his fathers, Solomon 
sank in premature old age into his grave, a monument of warning 
to all ages — in that the lustre of his meridian was eclipsed by the 
gloom of his latter days. 



XV. 
THE FAMILY OF AHAB. 

It is recorded of Ahab, the son of Omri, that he " did more to 
provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel 
that were before him." His wickedness, and the apostasy of his 
people, reached their height when Jezebel, the daughter of the king 
of Sidon, became his wife. This imperious and cruel woman was 
not content with bringing over the king to the worship of the 
Sidonian deity, but labored to introduce it as the national faith, 
persecuting those who adhered to the religion of their fathers. 
Temples and groves were consecrated to Baal ; idolatrous prophets 
were entertained at the expense of the impious queen ; and the un- 
bounded power she obtained was exercised to destroy the prophets 
of Jehovah from the land. Hers was a nature strongly endowed, 
and capable of exerting vast influence either for good or evil : 
a Catharine de Medicis in intellect as well as in ferocity, her indomi- 
table will subdued to her sway all the minds with which her own 
came into contact. Her mental superiority to her husband is plainly 
intimated. The persecution by which the ancient religion was nearly 
exterminated was carried on at her instigation, and by her acknow- 
ledged authority ; the prophets were slain by her command. When 
Ahab informed her of the disastrous termination of the trial at 
Mount Carmel, and the destruction of the heathen prophets, she 
does not appear to share in the fears of the weak and guilty monarch. 
The only emotion she exhibits is rage ; her message to Elijah 
threatens a deadly vengeance, with a fearful imprecation on herself 
should she fail to execute it. The prophet, showing more dread of 
her wrath than he had previously of that of Ahab — for he knew her 
malignant and unscrupulous nature — fled for his life into the desert. 

134 



THE FAMILY OF AHAB. 135 

The king had not ventured to withstand his authority when he 
ordered the death of Baal's prophets ; a temporary reconciliation, 
at least as far as appearances went, had taken place between them, 
and Elijah had paid a mark of respect and loyalty to his sovereign, 
by running before the royal chariot to the entrance of Jezreel. But 
the anger of the haughty queen crushed at once the hopes he began 
to entertain of the restoration of his country. Her enmity was un- 
subdued by the miraculous answer to his appeal, which had extorted 
confession from the assembled people, and humbled the monarch 
into silent obedience ; her power was yet absolute ; and forgetting, 
in his despair, that there was a Power who could bend the mightiest 
human will, and work out his own good pleasure by the wrath of 
man, he gave up all in the bitterness of disappointment, and desired 
only to end his life in the desolate wilderness ! When, afterwards, 
Ahab coveted the vineyard of Naboth, and failed in his negotiation 
for obtaining it, his unscrupulous consort not only devised means 
of securing the possession, but at once proceeded to put them in 
execution. No hesitation in her purpose, either from conscientious 
motives, or doubt of her ability to accomplish her determination, 
appears in her speech to the king, when she first learns the cause of 
his despondency. She does not by mere suggestion or persuasion 
incite her husband to acts of treachery and violence ; she takes the 
matter boldly into her own hands, bidding him be at ease, and inti- 
mating that she would teach him how to govern the kingdom. The 
high-handed atrocity of the measures she adopted, — her writing in 
Ahab's name and using his seal, and the report of the elders and 
nobles to her and not the king, show that she was in the habit of 
exercising the regal power to advance her purposes of cruelty and 
violence. When her victim was dead, and his confiscated estate in 
the king's power, she informs Ahab of the event with a kind of 
haughty brevity, expressive of her character. She does not say, — 
" The enterprise has succeeded : you can now take possession of the 
spoil ;" but, as if triumphing in the success of her wickedness, pre- 



136 FAMILY .I'ICTURES FHOM THE BIBLE. 

faces the communication of Naboth's death with a command to arise 
and take possession, dwelling on the incident of the vineyard's hav- 
ing been refused in the way of purchase, as if designing to mark 
the distinction between the sagacity of Aliab and her own bold pro- 
ceeding. This transaction was but in keeping with the general tenor 
of Ahab's conduct, " which did sell himself to work wickedness in 
the sight of the Lord ;" while the testimony is added — " whom 
Jezebel his wife stirred up." When Elijah came by the Divine com- 
mand to denounce vengeance upon the wicked pair, then in possession 
of the coveted property, though Ahab exhibited every external token 
of humiliation and penitence, thus obtaining a respite from the 
threatened evil, it is not mentioned that his proud wife showed any 
sign of terror or remorse. She was the bolder offender, being re- 
strained by none of the early religious impressions which the most 
abandoned Israelite could hardly throw off. And in the last fearful 
scene, when the doom denounced had already been fulfilled on her 
son, and Jezebel awaited in her palace at Jezreel the triumphal en- 
trance of the new monarch of Israel, her pride was in no way sub- 
dued. Arraying herself like a queen, as one who scorned the part 
of a mourner or a suppliant, she stood at a window, and accosted 
the conqueror as he approached with haughty and reproachful 
speech. " Had Zimri peace, who slew his master ?" she asked, as 
threatening him with the fate of the traitor who had fallen before 
Omri, the father of Ahab. It is not likely that she hoped aught 
from the clemency of the victor, or expected to awe him into gene- 
rosity. She wished not to survive her queenly state, and determined 
to die as she had lived, defiant and dreadless, yielding in contempt, 
as it were, of the power which she could not resist. No considera- 
tion for her royal condition weighed with the stern Jehu to spare 
her life, although he ordered burial for her corpse, because, though 
a cursed woman, she was " a king's daughter." But even this 
relenting came too late, and the prophet's word was fulfilled. 

The last scene in Jezebel's life might invest her character with a 



THE JFAMILT OF AHAB. 137 

coloring of heroism, could we imagine her firmness the result of any 
noble or unselfish feeling. It was not the queen losing feminine 
timidity in grief for the fall of her house and dynasty, nor the mother 
overwhelmed by the catastrophe that had made her childless, and 
forgetting her own peril to hurl her curse upon the murderer of her 
son ; it was the flinty-hearted and despotic woman, who had used 
her power to crush all that dared oppose her will, and who scorned to 
live when stripped of it. No thought of conciliation finds place in 
her mind, for its gloom had never been lighted up by a spark of any 
great or generous emotion. She never showed mercy, and she asks 
none. Her path has been through blood and misery, over the 
desolation of many whose rights she has trampled on, and she must 
not shrink from the goal to which it has conducted her. Her 
understanding has been fettered by cold-blooded selfishness ; to this 
the promptings of nature and humanity were ever sacrificed. No 
principle but the desire to extend and consolidate her own power 
has guided her life, and she has no belief in future retribution to 
appal her in the prospect of death. Yet, repulsive as she is, we can 
feel no contempt for such a character. Her deliberate and relent- 
less cruelty may excite fear or hate, but her steadfastness of purpose, 
her resistless will, invest her with a species of dignity, which, terrible 
as it is, secures her from the scorn we should feel for one so 
wicked, of inferior nature. In the depths of her own soul no soft or 
beautiful image was ever reflected ; the stern and the hateful alone 
abide in those recesses, unvisited by kindly gleams of sunshine. 
There have been a few such characters among women in the world's 
history, and they stand forth with appalling prominence, 

" In human guilt a portent and an era," 

showing to what a pinnacle of wickedness she whose part it should 
be to purify, may rise, when the restraints of moral principle are cast 
off, and genius is made the handmaid of depravity. 

The character of Ahab offers in some respects a contrast to that 



138 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

of his wife. He appears in subjection to her superior will, in being 
stirred up to execute the mischief devised by her. But at times he 
cannot escape from the influence of the belief he has renounced. 
After the continuance of the drought three years, when driven to 
the last resource, he sends Obadiah, whom, though a devoted servant 
of the Lord, he had not dismissed from his office, to search the laud 
for pasture. In the encounter with Elijah, though he reproaches 
the prophet as the cause of the country's sufferings, he dares not 
show anger when the reproach is thrown back ; nor does he hesitate 
to obey the command to gather the people and the prophets for the 
decisive trial at Mount CarmeL His submission to the first haughty 
message of the King of Syria, and his going forth against him when 
reassured by the word of a prophet, are equally characteristic ; as is 
the mercy he shows the fallen monarch, in violation of the command 
of God, for which sin he is so impressively rebuked. 

No part of the Jewish history is more remarkable than the 
instrumentality of the prophets in those days of irreligion and. dis- 
turbance. The Levites had departed, the priesthood was degraded ; 
but by the mouth of these chosen teachers, who went, as occasion 
directed, from place to place, it pleased the Lord yet to rebuke 
iniquity. Their warnings were often delivered in a manner most 
impressive and picturesque. Sometimes visited suddenly with the 
divine inspiration, the messenger went forth to bear the word of the Lord 
whither he was directed to carry it — unable himself to refrain from 
discharging his office, and stayed at the imminent peril of those who 
attempted to turn aside his steps. Ahijah met Jeroboam alone in 
the field, caught his new garment and rent it into twelve pieces, 
before he announced to the chief the intended partition of the tribes. 
Samuel took occasion by the rending of his mantle to express the 
rending: of the kinorlom from the house of Saul. Other emblematic 
actions are recorded, which served to illustrate the messages delivered 
according to the manner of Eastern nations. But not only in single 
instances, and under direct commission from Heaven, were the 



THE FAMILY OF AHAB. 139 

prophets useful ; they formed a class, educated in. the fear of 
Jehovah and under the supervision of holy men, the business of 
whose life it was to instruct the people, to uphold the righteous 
cause, and to protest against iniquity wherever it was practised. So 
great was the danger of detection, should any of this privileged 
and respected class prove treacherous to his duty, and so 
severe were the penalties, that they were generally found faithful ; 
though sometimes false prophets ventured to speak in the name of 
the Lord. They were honored universally, and resorted to in 
extremity, even by the evil-minded kings who persecuted them. 

Ahab's subsequent acts showed the same vacillating and pusilla- 
nimous spirit as in the matter of Naboth. Perplexed with the 
contradictory prophecies of the seers he consults, preparatory to 
the expedition against Ramoth-Gilead, but persuaded by the lying 
prophets who assured him of success, he endeavors to secure himself 
further by ordering Micaiah to severe imprisonment till his return in 
peace, and by putting on a disguise before entering into the battle. 
All his actions thus evince the narrowness and feebleness of his 
understanding, as well as the depravity of his heart. It was a 
deliverance for Israel when his house was destroyed. 

" The similarity," says Miss Jewsbury, " between Ahab and Mac- 
beth, between Jezebel and Lady Macbeth, and a parallel resemblance 
in their style of action, has always struck me exceedingly. The 
portrait of Macbeth, when matured in villany — 

"'Bloody, 
Luxurious, avaricious, false, deceitful, 
Sudden, malicious, smacking of every sin 
That has a name ' 

precisely describes Ahab ; every epithet might be proved by an 
action. Nevertheless the excess of wickedness is, in both instances, 
to be charged on the influence of their respective wives, who, bolder 
in mind and blacker in heart than themselves, became their teachers 



140 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

and tempters in sin. The resemblance between the queens is even 
more perfect. Both were filled ' from the crown to the toe topfull 
of direst cruelty,' mingled with a spirit of " pure demoniac firmness,' 
which knew not, or if it knew, heeded not the relentings of nature. 
Their minds were compact and integral ; they contained no oppos- 
ing principle which might impede their progress in evil, or embitter 
success ; so that murder itself, when apparently necessary to the 
attainment of an object, was consonant — not contrary — to their 
nature. It was not so with their lords, who, in comparison with 
each ' fiend-like queen,' were ' full o' the milk of human kindness.' 

" Ahab evidenced this after his victory over the Syrians. Benhadad, 
to whom he had formerly been a vassal, then sent messengers to 
him girded with sackcloth, and with ropes on their necks, to petition 
for his life, and Ahab said, ' Is he yet alive ? he is my brother ;' 
and ' he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.' 

" Again — it was by yielding to the delusions of the ' weird sisters' 
that Macbeth laid the foundation of his after crimes and sorrows ; 
their spells and promises clouded his mind like emanations from the 
pit of darkness, which needed but the influence of his wife to quicken 
into substantial evil. So it was with Ahab ; he too sought to 
wizards and them that had evil spirits. In the grand crime of each, 
the murder of Naboth and Duncan, the parallel of each is minute 
and unbroken. Macbeth, who was only a Thane, coveted ' the 
golden round of sovereignty.' Ahab, who, already a king, had no 
need to desire a crown, was disquieted for a neighbor's vineyard ; a 
proof, by the way, how little it is the intrinsic worth of an object 
which regulates the desires of an unsatisfied heart. Both would 
' wrongly win,' yet in the first instance would ' not play false ;' one 
took his disappointment in sullen silence, the other was almost per- 
suaded to rest satisfied as Glamis and Cawdor. Then appear the 
master spirits. Lady Macbeth thus taunts her hesitating Thane, 
and, with the hardihood of guilt without fear, developes the purpose 
which he has desired without conceiving; : 



THE FAMILY OF AHAB. 141 

" ' Art thou afeard 
To be the same in thine own act and valor 
As thou art in desire 1 Would'st thou have that 
Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life, 
And live a coward in thine own esteem ; 
Letting I dare not wait upon I would, 
Like the poor cat i' the adage V 

and so on, throughout the speech. 

" Precisely in this spirit does Jezebel address Ahab : ' Dost thou 
now govern the kingdom of Israel ? Arise, and eat bread, and let 
thine heart be merry ; I will give thee the vineyard of JNaboth the 
Israelite. So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them 
with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders, and to the nobles 
that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth ; and she wrote in the 
letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the 
people ; and set two men, sons of Belial, before him, and bear wit- 
ness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king ; 
and then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.' The 
two monarchs resemble each other in their closing scenes. As 
dangers increase and the hope of repulsing his enemies diminishes, 
Macbeth clings with desperate faith to the words of those who ' pal- 
tered with him in a double sense ;' and Ahab, seduced by false pro- 
phets, goes up against Ramoth-Gilead, where destruction awaits him. 
The phrensy with which the former receives the messengers who bring 
tidings of the enemy's approach, corresponds with the hatred which 
the latter expresses for Micaiah, the true prophet, ' who did not pro- 
phesy good concerning him, but evil.' Ahab and Macbeth resemble 
each other also in the brave spirit which flashes forth just before the 
end of life ; a last ray of kingliness in one, and a burst of old 
knightly feeling in the other. 

" ' Macbeth. Til not yield 
To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, 
And to be baited by the rabble's curse, 



142 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, 
And thou opposed, being of no woman born : 
Yet I will try the last.' 

" ' And Ahab said to his chariot man, Turn thine hand, that thou 
mayest cany me out of the host, for I am wounded. And the battle 
increased that day ; howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in 
his chariot against the Syrians until the even ; and about the time 
of the sunsetting he died/ Their queens also died in a resembling 
spirit ; one, having ' painted her face and tired her head,' is killed 
with scoffing on her lips ; the other expires without one compunc- 
tious visiting which might prove that remembrance at last awoke 
remorse." 

The marriage of the son of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, to Ahab's 
daughter was productive of the most disastrous consequences to that 
kingdom. The alliance not only brought the king of Judah into 
peril, but his family to almost total ruin, and led his successor to 
" walk in the way of the kings of Israel," working that which was 
evil, and causing his people to sin. The influence of Athaliah, who 
proved herself to possess a portion of the spirit of her mother 
Jezebel, wrought in like manner upon her son Ahaziah ; " he also 
walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his 
counsellor to do wickedly." When this mother heard of the 
murder of her son, she resolved to reign in Judah ; having probably 
been left in authority during the absence of Ahaziah, she now seized 
the crown for herself. To destroy every rival who could dispute her 
claims to the sovereignty, she barbarously put to death all she could 
find of the kingly stock, and the royal palace of Jerusalem flowed 
with innocent blood. 'For six years did her oppressive usurpation 
continue, during which time the land was defiled with the worship 
of Baal, and the temple plundered of his sacred treasures. She 
dreamed not that any of the line of David remained to sit on the 
throne ; but the Lord had not forgotten his covenant. Secreted in 
one of the chambers of the temple, a child who had been saved by 



THE FAMILY OF AHAB. 143 

his father's sister from the sanguinary search of Athaliah, was living 
under the care of the high priest. When the time was ripe for 
revolt, this rightful heir of the throne was exhibited by Jehoiada to 
the rulers and captains, previously bound by an oath to his cause ; 
the conspiracy was organized, and Joash anointed and proclaimed 
king. Hearing the noise of the acclamations the queen-mother 
came into the temple, saw in the appointed place of royalty the 
youthful monarch, crowned, and surrounded by the princes and 
trumpeters, and heard the joyful shouts and the martial music that 
hailed his accession. She rent her clothes and cried " Treason ! 
treason !" but no guards appeared to defend her pretensions. She 
showed the spirit of her haughty mother in venturing alone into the 
midst of the military force, as if expecting that the majesty of her 
presence could put down rebellion ; she shared her fate, also, and 
doubtless met her death with the same indomitable resolution, the 
offspring of pride. " The wicked have no bands in their death." 

The exhibition of wickedness in high places, as viewed in the 
family of this king of Israel, with the punishment which overtook its 
perpetrators, forms one of the most instructive lessons in history. 
We may see here how the absence of all religious principle made 
room for the introduction of selfish avarice and ambition, which 
became more and more insatiate of dominion. Idolatrous worship 
paved the way for the other evils under which the land lay ruined, 
till a bloody deliverance was wrought. Jezebel, the stronger spirit, 
had the mastery, and led her husband into crimes he was too 
infirm of purpose to shun ; their children were worthy descendants 
of so evil a stock, and were involved in the catastrophe which over- 
took them. There are many examples like this, but few in which 
the relations of cause and effect may be so clearly and impressively 
traced. 



XVI. 
THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA. 

BY REV. WILLIAM MARTIN. 

Hospitality, so positively enjoined upon us in the New Testa- 
ment, is also by very striking examples set before us for imitation 
in the Old. It seems, indeed, to have been one of the primitive 
virtues of an age when morals were defective, because Christianity, 
with its refining, elevating principles, had not been sufficiently 
developed to make " the man of God perfect in every good work." 
This beautiful Christian obligation of hospitality seems from the first 
to have been perfectly appreciated and acted upon. In no instance 
have we it more impressively and thrillingly illustrated than in the 
heart-stirring narrative of the widow of Sarepta. 

How strangely and yet how beautifulty is the Gospel in its pro- 
visions contrasted with the narrow-mindedness of selfish man ! The 
Jews believed salvation confined to the seed of Abraham according 
to the flesh, and, consequently, that the covenanted mercies of God 
could extend to none else ; but Jesus, with a happy reference to 
their own accredited Scriptures, shows at once the fallacy of such a 
notion. " But I tell you, of a truth, many widows were in Israel in 
the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six 
months, when great famine was throughout all the land ; But unto 
none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, 
unto a woman that was a widow." Sarepta was one of the cities 
belonging to Sidon, and hence the widow in question was a Sidonian, 
and not of the children of Abraham ; yet God sent the prophet to 
her. 

From the time of the revolt of the ten tribes under Jeroboam, 

144 



THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA. 145 

the kings of Israel had been, without one solitary exception, evil 
men. In their folly and wickedness they grew worse and worse, 
until Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Sidon, who 
introduced the public worship of Baal, Ashtarte, and other Pheni- 
cian deities. Thus idolatry and corruption prevailed to such an 
extent that God, in anger, commissioned his servant Elijah to 
announce a severe and protracted famine. This famine, we are told 
in the New Testament, continued three years and six months. But 
God, ever mindful of those who fear Him, commanded Elijah to 
secrete himself in a cave by the brook Cherith, where he was fed 
by the ravens which brought him bread and flesh in the morning, 
and bread and flesh in the evening. Thus he was sustained until 
the brook dried up. He then went, at the bidding of God, to the 
country of the Sidonians, and when he came to the city of 
Zarephath, or Sarepta, he met a widow woman at the gate. Of 
this woman God had spoken to the prophet while yet at the brook 
Cherith, saying, " Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to 
Zidon, and dwell there ; behold, I have commanded a widow 
woman there to sustain thee." 

We are introduced to the Widow of Sarepta under circumstances 
of peculiar interest. She, in common with all the inhabitants of 
her country, had suffered from the famine. She had seen her little 
store of provisions gradually diminishing, without the most distant 
prospect of its being replenished, until it was reduced to a mere 
handful of meal and a little oil ; that used, and the entire stock 
would be exhausted. This woman was a mother ; she had one 
only child, a son, in whom all the affections of her fond heart cen- 
tred. With what anguish on his account must she have watched 
the approach of utter destitution ; with what despair must she have 
seen at last that the little all which remained could furnish but one 
more scant repast, after which both she and her son must die ! 
How heart-rending the thought that she must see her beloved child 
perish, unable to relieve his sufferings ; or worse, if possible, — that 

7 " 



146 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE, 

she might die first, and leave him to suffer and die alone ! The 
hour so long dreaded has at last arrived. She goes to procure fuel, 
but at the gate she is accosted by a stranger — a man of rough and 
forbidding exterior, who bids her bring him a drink of water. She 
hastens to comply with his request ; but what must have been her 
astonishment and grief when he added, " Bring me, I pray thee, a 
morsel of bread in thine hand !" " Who," she asks herself, " can 
this strange, rough, wild-looking man be ? Can he mean to take 
advantage of my helplessness \ Is he a stranger in the country, 
who knows not the miserable straits to which we are reduced ? I 
will tell him all ; perhaps my distress may move his compassion, 
and he will spare me." And she said — " As the Lord thy God 
liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a 
little oil in a erase ; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I 
may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and 
die." " And Elijah said unto her, Fear not ; go and do as thou 
hast said ; but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto 
me, and after make for thee and thy son. For thus saith the Lord 
God of Israel — The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the 
cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the 
earth." 

Mark here the trial ; not only is this woman out of her little 
store required to share with the stranger, but she is bidden to make 
him the first cake, and then make for herself and her son. Look at 
the group by the poor widow's humble dwelling. There is the 
little boy at play, unconscious of impending starvation ; the mother 
with pale and saddened countenance, and the stranger, weary with 
his journey, and faint with hunger. He has no claims of kindred 
or even of country upon her ; she has never seen nor heard of him 
before ; he is of a country whose laws, customs, and religion are 
strange to her ; yet he throws himself upon her hospitality, and 
asks at her hand the bread she is about to prepare as a last 
morsel for her child. Must she give under such circumstances? 



THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA. 14*7 

Does charity or religion demand it of her ? While she hesitates, 
the stranger gives the promise with the sanction of " Thus saith the 
Lord God of Israel" — concerning the oil and the meal. She com- 
plies with the apparently unreasonable and severe request ; she 
takes out the meal and oil with trembling hands, and prepares the 
cake. What was her moving principle ? Was it faith — faith in the 
promise of a stranger, made in the name of his God ? If so, what 
a striking and beautiful example of faith was hers, exhibited under 
the circumstances of her situation ! If she acted in obedience to 
what she conceived the imperious demands of hospitality, how 
noble was her disinterestedness and self-denying kindness ! 

The Man of God is received into the widow's house ; becomes a 
member of her little family, and partakes with her and her child, 
of the daily supplies furnished from that barrel of meal, and that 
cruse of oil. The drought continues ; the famine increases ; the 
water streams dry up ; the earth is parched, and vegetation ceases 
throughout the land ; yet still the handful of meal wastes not, and 
the oil fails not. The woman's faith has become established by daily 
experience of the fulfilment of the Divine promise, and her doubts and 
fears have gradually given place to abiding confidence and cheerful 
hope, — hope that by the blessing of the God of Israel upon her 
store, her wants may be supplied until the famine is over, and the 
earth shall again be made fruitful by plentiful showers, causing it to 
yield abundantly seed to the sower and bread to the eater. But 
while the fond mother thus dreams of a happy future, looking for- 
ward to the time when her son shall become the stay and comfort 
of her declining years, the opening bud is nipped, and her cherished 
hopes blighted as in a moment. The object of all her anxieties and 
anticipations, her hopes and joys, is stricken down by the destroyer, 
Death. What pen could portray the agony, the despair of that 
lone widow, as she lays down from her arms that lovely boy, now 
cold and lifeless : imprints a kiss upon the marble brow, and gazes 
on the pale form as the last object that made earth desirable ! How 



148 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

imploringly she appeals to the man of God, perhaps with some faint 
hope that he may aid her in this extreme distress ! The scene is one 
of painful interest. The bereaved mother refuses to be comforted ; 
the man of God stands calm and thoughtful, his soul moved with 
sympathy for the suffering mourner. " Elijah took the child out of 
her bosom, and carried him up into his own room, and laid him 
upon his own bed." What were the mother's feelings when she saw 
the holy man retire to his room with her lifeless child in his arms ! 
what hope sprang to life, to be crushed the next moment by doubt 
and despair ! But Elijah " cried unto the Lord, and said, Oh, Lord, 
my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom 
I sojourn, by slaying her son ! And he stretched himself upon 
the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, Oh, Lord, 
my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again." 
The Lord heard the prayer of his servant, and restored the child to 
life ; and Elijah brought him to his mother, " and said, See, thy son 
liveth !" After this wonderful event, the widow, her son, and her 
guest, continued to dwell happily together, sustained by the special 
providence of God, until the day that it pleased Him to replenish 
the earth with refreshing; showers and fruitful seasons. 

Without doubt, one of the most beautiful and attractive phases 
of Christian charity is hospitality. Often it is found in higher and 
more frequent exercise among the poor than the rich. "Come, 
share my crust," says the poor man, with a free heart, ungrudgingly ; 
but to share the last crust with a stranger — this was the unparalleled 
hospitality of the poor widow of Sarepta. Twice blessed was that 
charity to her. " Be given to hospitality." " When I was a stranger 
ye took me in." " Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for there- 
by some have entertained angels unawares." "And whosoever 
shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water 
only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no 
wise lose his reward." Widow of Sarepta ! surely thou hadst over- 
payment, and shall we not all ! What investment is like that 



THE WIDOW OF SAREPTA. 149 

' charity" which "covereth a multitude of sins!" What venture 
like the heart's trust in these and such like promises ! — " He that 
soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." " He that hath pity 
on the poor lendeth to the Lord ; and that which he hath given 
will He pay him again." " God is not unrighteous to forget your 
work and labor of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in 
that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister." 



XVII. 
THE HOLY FAMILY. 

BY REV. B. M. PALMER. 

Among the family groups presented to our view in the Scriptures, 
not one is contemplated with such various and intense interest as 
the Holy family. This title itself, by which, from immemorial 
antiquity, it has been separated from all the families of the earth, 
hedges it round with associations the most sacred, and awakens 
reflections which easily glide into frames of devotion. Pious families 
have, in every age, been embraced within the covenant of God, the 
individual members of which we may call holy, in a relative sense ; 
indeed, many of these have been drawn by inspired men, in fuller 
proportions than it seemed good to the Spirit to draw for us the 
characters either of Mary or of Joseph. Certainly, the elements of 
piety have not been so nicely analysed in these, nor has such a 
diversified Christian experience been assigned to them, as the Scrip- 
tures attribute to many of the early patriarchs, or to some of the 
kings of Judah. However distinguished as the parents and protectors 
of the infant Jesus, they, no less than others, were sinners saved by 
grace, were justified by a righteousness imputed to them, and 
experienced the same " washing of regeneration and renewing of 
the Holy Ghost." They, like others, " rejoiced in God their 
Saviour," and were in no other sense holy than as they were 
" washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and 
by the spirit of our God." Their holiness was " like the light of 
fire mixed with smoke ; an infused holiness accompanied with a 
natural taint." It is not, therefore, for their supereminent piety, 
however great, that the common consent of ages has applied to this 

150 



THE HOLY FAMILY. 151 

family the epithet, holy. But within the inclosure of this domestic 
circle there is a being who, considered in his human nature alone, 
lifts our minds to the most elevated meditations. Born of a woman, 
with all the corporeal and intellectual endowments of a real man, 
with all those sympathies and affections which bind our race into a 
common brotherhood, he was yet born free from that taint which iii 
its fountain head corrupted the very nature of mankind. He is the 
only human being to whom the epithet, holy, may be applied in its 
absolute sense. Of him alone the record runs that he " was holy, 
harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." Poetry has vainly 
employed its richest fancy to conceive the idea of a perfect man, and 
philosophy has refined its nicest distinctions to express the attributes 
which should adorn him. And if, while mourning amid the ruins 
of our fallen nature, the revelation were for the first time made, that 
such a being should actually exist, and that in accomplishing the 
usual stages of infancy, youth, and manhood, he should exhibit the 
pattern of a blameless life, with what acclamation would this promise 
be received ! with what admiration would all eyes turn upon this 
spectacle ! with what critical inspection would his character and 
walk be surveyed ! — yet it is this spectacle which is viewed in the babe 
of Bethlehem. During thirty years he passes through all the 
fortunes of human life without a stain ; exercises affections the most 
ardent, without the alloy of human passion ; cherishes sympathies the 
most keen, without the imperfection of irritability ; and works actions 
the most notable, in which are mingled equally the elements of good- 
ness and of power. 

This holy being, too, against whom the law brings not a single 
challenge, undergoes all the pain and sorrow which form in part the 
penalty of sin ; and these sufferings, which yet avenge no transgres- 
sions of his own, invest him "with a most affectino- interest. Born in 
a lowly condition, he proves all the mortifications of obscurity ; with- 
out the poor shelter which even birds and foxes, under a benignant 
providence, enjoy, he knows the pain of dependence ; lonely amidst 



152 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE, 

the moving crowd, death snatches away the few T friends of his heart, 
and he feels the pang of bereavement ; his pure ears are filled with 
the coarsest invectives of brutal foes ; and his guileless spirit is 
pierced with sharp and malignant suspicions. It was his bitter lot to 
endure the kiss of the betrayer, the desertion of timid friends, and 
the savage insults of enemies who gloat over the agonies of his dying 
hour. We speak not now of the supernatural horrors which hung 
around his soul when he made that " soul an offering for sin." 
Viewing him alone in his natural relations, we trace his path of 
suffering, reproach, and want, till it loses itself in the awful gloom of 
the crucifixion. At every step we recognise the " man of sorrows ;" 
his acquaintance with grief has " marred his form more than the 
sons of men." Nature, blunted and selfish as she is, bids us weep 
over the sufferings which are yet the due reward of sin ; but what 
sympathy is felt to be adequate when the sufferer is sinless, and 
bears in his bleeding bosom the broken points of a thousand shafts 
aimed to avenge the sins of others ! 

Another feature, attaching the eye of the beholder to this group 
as to none beside, is found in the singular constitution of this house- 
hold. In every other, from the very order in which families are 
developed, the parents must be the central figures. Their offspring, 
however they may afterwards eclipse them, are, in the beginnings of 
their history, wrapped within those from whom, in their fortunes and 
in their character, they are developed. They become important only 
as they enlarge, and in the lapse of time push their ancestors from 
the stage, to occupy their place. But in this group, the child is the 
commanding figure, and from first to last concentrates upon himself 
the gaze of all beholders. Nor is the tie the same which binds him 
to his parents. To Joseph he sustains only the relation of an adopted 
son : no blood of his flows through his veins : he sprang not from his 
loins. While Joseph bends with intensest devotion over his infant 
form, it is with the love of a guardian, and in fulfilment of a trust 
committed in such a way as most fully to engage the affections of his 






THE HOLY FAMILY. J53 

upright heart. And who shall define the tie which binds thi» child 
to his virgin mother ? Supematurally created from her substance 
by the power of the Holy Ghost, he is born as no other being besides 
himself was ever born. " Forasmuch as the children," whom he 
came to redeem, " were partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself 
likewise took part of the same." He must not only possess a human 
nature like theirs, which might have been had he been created out 
of nothing, or from the dust, as Adam was ; but that he may be near 
of kin to them, and so a legal ground exist for the imputation of his 
righteousness, he must have that very nature as it is derived from 
Adam and is propagated to himself. While, however, this human 
nature must thus descend to him in the way of inheritance, the 
necessities of his redeeming work require that the curse pronounced 
upon the first Adam, entailed upon all his natural seed, and conveyed 
to them through the channel of ordinary generation, should be 
stopped from him. His extraordinary conception in the womb of a 
virgin, and the immediate creation of his human nature by the Holy 
Ghost, cut off this entail, free him from the taint of original sin, save 
him from the condemnation of the race to which he belongs, and 
present human nature in him, spotless, as at the creation. This 
family, then, is seen to be constituted in a way peculiar to itself. A 
virgin, who had never known obedience to the law of her husband, 
becomes a mother. While absorbed in her maiden meditations, a 
celestial visitor appears to her, with this imposing announcement — 
" The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the High- 
est shall overshadow thee : therefore, also, that holy thing that shall 
be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God." The third person 
of the adorable Godhead, who, at the first, with his forming and per- 
fecting power, brooded over chaos, overshadows her, — by a creative, 
not a generative act, impregnates her womb, — refines and supernatu- 
ralizes her substance, — and transforms it into that of a man. In this 
way did Christ emphatically become " the seed of the woman," and 
in this way was " a body prepared " for him who was to be " found 

7* 



154 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

in fashion as a man." Thus singular were the ties of relationship 
between the members of this household. The child gives denomina- 
tion to the family. He is related to the father only by the love of 
adoption, and through the exercise of a special guardianship : he is 
related to the mother by no instrumental generation, but by imme- 
diate and divine creation from her virgin flesh. 

But let us draw nearer to the canvas and take a closer view. 
The eye brightens and the bosom heaves, as greater mysteries are 
seen lurking within the deeper shadows of the picture. Who is this 
supernatural being, for whom so miraculous a birth is provided ? 
And why does Mary mingle Avith her maternal caresses that look of 
deep devotion and adoring worship ? " Hear, Heavens, and give 
ear, Earth !" " The great mystery of Godliness, God manifest in 
the flesh," is here revealed ! The stupendous truth must be ad- 
mitted to the agitated bosom — this babe is the incarnate deity ! 
" The word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us, and we beheld 
his glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
truth." 

The myths and legends which form the oracles of Pagan 
antiquity, universally recognise God's conversableness with man, and 
give dim notices of his incarnation upon earth. Did human wit 
first contrive this doctrine, and ingenious priestcraft fit it to the 
worship of men ? Did human imagination, prolific of images and in 
dreaming phrensy, first conceive the idea that God should be in 
human form ? Does not the incarnation, like all the great truths of 
God, rather lie quite beyond the range of human thought ? And 
did finite mind ever so far wander from its orbit as to light upon a 
discovery like this ? Could the doctrine, even in its crudest form, 
find a place in the universal creed of men, among nations barbarous 
and polished, if it were not the distorted image of a revealed truth ? 
There are some thoughts which so address themselves to the 
religious susceptibilities of men, that once cherished they can never 
die away from the mind. They may be overlaid, obscured, per- 



THE HOLY FAMILY. 155 

verted ; but never forgotten nor erased. They seem to enter into 
the very fabric of man's religious nature, and form a part of its 
texture. Thus, for example, while "the glory of the incorruptible 
God has been changed into an image made like to corruptible man, and 
to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things," yet the great 
idea itself of God's existence has never been eradicated. The incar- 
nation is a truth exactly of this nature. Originally revealed from 
heaven, it became indissolubly interwoven with all the religious 
associations and emotions of mankind. Broken off from the system 
to which it belongs, it has intermingled itself, fragmentary and dis- 
torted, with all the superstitions of men. Refracted by the medium 
of ignorance and error through which it has passed, and grotesque 
with the silly additions which the credulous have imposed, it is, 
notwithstanding, the archetype of all those fables which, as they 
describe God's commerce with mankind, contain the essence of all 
heathen religion. 

The Scriptures teach that as God mysteriously subsists in three 
distinct persons, the second of these, being equally related to the 
Father and the Spirit, becomes the revealer of the Deity to sinful 
men. He it is who conversed with Adam in the garden of Eden. 
He it is who appeared as a friend to Abraham and gave the 
promise of a numerous seed. He it is who in a pillar of cloud and 
a pillar of fire led forth that seed from the house of Egyptian 
bondage. He it is who with imposing majesty gave forth the law 
from Sinai. And now that " the fulness of time" has come, He 
makes that larger manifestation of which all these were only the 
types. As the purposes of God ripen to their consummation, the 
uncreated Son leaps from the throne which as " Jehovah's fellow" he 
had always shared, leaves the bosom in which he had always dwelt, 
and speeds to earth exclaiming, " Lo I come — in the volume of the 
book it is written of me." He strips himself of all celestial glories, 
lays aside the garments of praise, unwraps his majesty and puts it 
by, unclothes himself of light, empties himself of all grandeur, and 



156 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

becomes the babe whom we discover upon the knee of Mary. 
This sublime condescension illustrates itself yet further. He comes 
not only to be a man, but a " man of sorrows." As though in type 
that He and his people should be pilgrims and strangers upon earth, 
he is bom by the wayside and upon a journey. As though in token 
that He and His should have no home but in Heaven, he is crowded 
from the inn, and, unhoused, seeks a shelter even from beasts of labor. 
Ominous of the humiliation of the grave in which his life must end, 
that life begins in the humiliation of the stall and the manger. Yet 
even now signs of the true divinity are not wanting. A shining 
star is set in the heavens from which he came, to mark the spot of 
his earthly nativity. While wrapped in swaddling clothes and 
lying in the manger, wise men from the East bring their gifts of 
gold, frankincense, and myrrh ; prophetic of the time when under 
the gospel " the kingdoms of this world should become the king- 
doms of our Lord and of his Christ." Myriads of the Heavenly 
host, with the glory of God shining about them, hover over the 
watchful shepherds and sing " glory to God in the Highest, and on 
earth peace and good-will to men ;" the first note, it may be, of that 
chorus with which they echo the song of the Church redeemed and 
triumphant in Heaven, " Amen ; blessing and glory and wisdom and 
thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God 
for ever and ever." 

The being thus marvellously combining two dissimilar natures in 
his mysterious person, is not more singularly united to the race of 
men, than he is associated with their history. For him and for his 
work of redemption this world was made. In relation to his king- 
dom, all the kingdoms of the earth have waxed and waned. Little 
as the wise and prudent of our age may reck of it, the proud 
empires of the present and of the future, no less than of the past, 
exist only because of their relations to the despised Nazarene and 
his humble church. Upon this family, holding in its embrace the 
manifested God, all the lines of history converge. The light of 



THE HOLY FAMILY. 157 

another world — the eye of faith may even in this — shall surely dis- 
cover all facts, of all times, in all nations, revolving around the 
tragedy of the Crucifixion as the great central fact of all history, and 
taking complexion from it. All the predictions and promises of 
God, moreover, which spanned the arch of four thousand years, 
terminated upon this babe of the manger. And from this new 
salient point, they spring forth to span with the rainbow of hope 
other thousands of years, terminating upon his second advent, when 
he shall " come without sin unto salvation," " to be glorified in his 
saints, and to be admired in them that believe." 

These, then, are the associations called up by that suggestive title 
— the Holy Family. The specimen of perfect human nature, never 
witnessed but in the man Christ Jesus ; the painful sufferings of 
Him who drank the wormwood and the gall in place of the guilty 
and condemned ; the supernatural conception of this Virgin's Son ; 
the incarnation of the Deity in him ; and the concentration upon 
him of all the lines of History and Prophecy : these are the features 
which give expression to the painting before us. To expand these 
points would indeed conduct the reader over a large tract of serious 
and profitable thought, but would lead him too far from the one 
practical design of this Gallery of Portraits, which is to illustrate the 
true family life as grounded in religion. With these three figures 
sketched before us, we may return to the domestic relations of the 
group and deduce the lessons which they may offer. 

The first of these lessons is, that Christ has sanctified a life of 
holiness and labor by his voluntary and patient endurance of it. 
The inequalities of social condition, arising from the partial distribu- 
tion which Providence has made of worldly good, have been bitterly 
bewailed as an unmitigated evil. In every age, Socialism has pro- 
jected her theories to reduce the fortunes of men to a uniform 
standard. The ferocious spirit of Agrarianism, against which one 
generation does battle and hopes to have buried for ever, experiences 
in the next a fearful resurrection. It lays, like Samson, the hand 



158 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE LltiLE. 

of violence upon the pillars of the state ; and would shake society 
into ruins that it may enjoy a level prospect even though it should 
be the level of a universal wreck. What the state of the world 
would have been if man had never fallen — whether those striking 
inequalities would have existed, if the earth, unfettered by the curse, 
had spontaneously produced her fruits, or had yielded them to easy 
culture — it is more than idle now to conjecture. But since the dis- 
pensation of God has been otherwise, it is never useless to oppose 
the sanctions of religion to that species of savage cannibalism which 
leads the poor and hungry, with all the rapacity of recklessness or 
despair, to devour the noble and the great. While, on the one 
hand, the pressure of absolute want is an evil both to him who 
endures it and to the state upon whose body this ulcer grows, against 
which no argument avails ; still, on the other hand, it can be shown 
to be better for the interests of the world at large, that the masses 
should not be independent of honest daily labor for their subsist- 
ence. Wealth brings with it that measure of independence, and 
naturally so insulates its possessors, that, were it not confined to few 
hands, it is hard to see but that society must be speedily disintegrated. 
But that reciprocal dependence which the working classes must ever 
feel, and which, within certain limits, is even an element of human 
happiness, binds society together with cords of sympathy and 
interest which are stronger than bands of iron. Passing by, how- 
ever, these general reflections, the problem is easily solved why God, 
for the most part, secludes the " heirs of salvation" in obscurity, and 
subjects them to a discipline of toil. Obscurity shields them from 
many snares and hurtful lusts which necessarily beset those who 
occupy positions of wealth and power. Labor places a wholesome 
check upon the impatient and turbulent spirit, which must be tamed 
and made obedient to the law of Christ. Dependence upon God 
for their daily food exercises that trustful faith which embraces a 
divine Redeemer in the promises of the Gospel. The constant toil 
of every day hardens the Christian and adapts him to evangelical 



THE HOLY FAMILY. 159 

labors ; and the intercourse with man, which business generates, 
opens wide the door for the entrance of their labors. But though 
sense were blind, and reason could discover none of these advantages 
accruing, it checks the murmur dropping from one's lips to remem- 
ber Christ as standing with us in the same lowly sphere. Every 
spot through the whole dark passage-way of life, upon which the 
Saviour's foot was pressed, is sanctified to us. Even the grave is 
deprived of its appalling associations by his abode in the sepulchre. 
" Since Jesus hath lain there, we dread not its gloom." If our 
glorious Head hath borne down into its gloomy vaults his own cove- 
nant of love and placed it as the pillow upon which the sleeping 
Christian may rest, the grave is robbed of its terrors, and death 
itself is sanctified. Why, upon the same principles, should not 
poverty, reproach, obscurity, and labor be sanctified to the humble 
Christian, when his blessed Master passes by the palaces of Csesar 
and chooses an humble carpenter of Galilee for his reputed father, 
and an humble virgin from the fallen house of David for his veritable 
mother ? 

Attention should next be drawn to the depth of character evinced 
by Mary, and in no small degree by Joseph. The profane worship 
which Papists render to the Mother of our Lord has so thoroughly 
disgusted Protestants, that she is in danger of beino* defrauded of 
the credit due her case as a pious woman. Her character will well 
repay a moment's study to those who wish to know what elements 
enter into family happiness. Scan her then at the moment her 
privacy is first broken by the angel Gabriel. Startling as his 
announcement is, she does not reel beneath it. Troubled at the 
manner of his saluta' ' ^n, she observes a discreet silence, and " casts 
in her mind" what it shoutu. mean. This single ray of historic lio-ht 
daguerreotypes her character before us with imperishable distinct- 
ness. What habits of patient meditation and inward self-communion 
does this perfect self-control reveal \ When the message comes to 
be unfolded, still she staggers not. True, reason could bring no 



1(30 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

precedents from human annals to justify the astounding declaration. 
The eye of sense could discover no law by which this event should be 
accomplished, and her innocence of marriage would seem an inter- 
dict upon the promise. True, a calculating, selfish prudence could 
suggest the cold suspicions which might alienate the love of Joseph. 
Her womanly reserve might shrink from the prospect of the assem- 
bled judges and from the "bitter water of jealousy ;" or her natural 
love of life might recoil from a martyrdom to chastity by the aveng- 
ing stones of an infuriated and insulting populace. But nothing of 
all this. If a vivid fancy caused these hideous images to defile 
before her mind, she had the nerve to banish or suppress them. 
When the angel places the issue upon the veracity and power of 
God, her faith yields a ready acquiescence, and with submissive will 
she replies, " Behold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto me 
according to thy word." Immediately upon his departure, with 
expanding heart she hies to the mountain home of her cousin, 
Elizabeth ; concerning whom the angel had testified that she was in 
like manner favored of the Lord. The object of this visit and the 
affecting nature of their conference may be inferred from their 
impassioned salutations : " Blessed art thou among women, and 
blessed is the fruit of thy womb !" To which Mary responds, " My 
soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my 
Saviour : for he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden, 
for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." 
We have no space for criticism upon the sacred canticle of which 
these words are the introduction. One observation, however, must 
not be withheld : it reveals a strength of emotion and a compass of 
feeling commensurate with the deep self-communion already noticed. 
It is conclusive that the moderation and calm tranquillity of Mary 
under the visit of the angel were by no means due to passiveness of 
temper and a cold phlegmatic mould that can never fire, even 
thouo-h the torch be from the altar and throne of God. Her whole 
history goes to show that, as in the case of others, so in hers, the 



THE HOLY FAMILY. 161 

universal law obtains, that what was " kept and pondered in the 
heart" was the aliment of the deep emotion, which, like a smothered 
flame, continually burst forth in the life. 

This depth of character is due to the power of her living faith in 
the providence and covenant of God. Mary is a beautiful example 
of the piety which breathed and burned in the ancient Hebrew 
Church, when the faith of God's people fed upon the promise of a 
coming Messiah. Among the predictions of this event, that most 
remarkable of all which foretold his birth of a virgin, and gave to 
him the descriptive name, Immanuel, had doubtless filled the mind 
of Mary, and in a measure prepared her for the startling revelations 
of the angel. With all those who, like Simeon and Anna, " waited 
for the consolation of Israel," her faith was placed in a supernatural 
Providence, to whom all things were alike easy. It was this faith 
that formed the substratum of her character. Indeed the proposi- 
tion may be made universal, there is no depth of soul in any with- 
out the element of faith — faith in something which is great and 
good. There must be a recognition of principles beautiful and prac- 
tical, which shall insensibly give tone to the whole inward man. 
The more elevated these truths the stronger will be the faith and 
the more complete the ascendency over the mind and will. If the 
principles be divine and such as to associate man with God, they 
will impart a dignity and vigor to the life which only a divine and 
inward spring can supply. There may be genius, there may be 
learning, where there is little harmony or symmetry of character. 
Men may shine above their fellows with the lustre of stars : but they 
will prove " wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of 
darkness for ever," unless faith, with its attractive and assimilatmo; 

77 o 

power, bind them to the great Centre of truth and goodness. 

The bearing of all this upon the forming of family ties will at 
once be seen. The family is the radix of the State, the germ of the 
church, and thus the basis of every organization known among men. 
Tt is in the family that government and law first are exercised. Here 



162 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

a despotism is established sufficiently strong and absolute to break 
the iron will of men, whose first impulse, as seen in the youngest chil- 
dren, is to break, away from all restraint ; and yet this despotism is 
tempered in its exercise, and is guarded from above, by that natural 
affection for his offspring, deeper than any love known to the 
parent's heart. Men would be incapable of restraint, and the most 
stringent, enactments would be as tow to bind their passions, if they 
were thrown together in the mass. But divided into these separate 
provinces, while yet plastic in youth, they learn subjection to author- 
ity under the mild despotism of the family. But this involves 
immense responsibilities, from which none may shrink who assume 
this supreme jurisdiction. The true ends of life, and the ordination 
of family ties with a view to consummate those ends, must be under- 
stood and felt. The duties of every relation must be graduated 
upon a proper scale ; and all the emotions and sympathies of the 
heart must be proportioned by that measurement. He surely should 
not have in trust the happiness of others, who himself, fitful and 
moody, swings in the gale without a mooring. He should not 
assume to mould the mortal and immortal destinies of others, whose 
own character is without consistency or form. He surely is not 
competent to guide others, who is not himself well poised, and turns 
not freely on the pivot through the entire circle of human duty. 
We cease to wonder at domestic broils, and the insurrection of tur- 
bulent households, when we consider the unformed and ill-adjusted 
characters of those appointed to rule and guide. 

The passage from this trait is easy to another, the most beautiful 
which can decorate the family abode — the exquisite tenderness and 
affection manifested by the parents of Jesus. Imagination can easily 
coin the few hints of this given in the narrative into most substantial 
proofs. How affecting the sight of this group fleeing by night from 
the persecuting sword of Herod — Joseph with a sturdy heart 
grasping his Pilgrim staff, and Mary trembling with fear over her 
precious burden ! They tread together the sands of that desert 



THE HOLY FAMILY. 163 

passed two thousand years before by their ancestors, and find a 
refuge in that Egypt which was once the house of bondage. How 
does the mother's heart heave with the emotion of danger just 
escaped, when the cry of the slaughtered infants of Bethlehem is 
wafted to her ears ! " The voice of Rachel, weeping for her children 
because they are not," unseals the fountains within. Tears of sym- 
pathy for those bereft mothers — tears of grateful thanksgiving for 
the safety of her own — mingle with the tears shed by maternal 
love over her sleeping babe. Again the wilderness is recrossed ; 
but parental love, ever suspicious of- evil and quick to scent the 
approach of danger, turns their feet from the territory of Archelaus 
to " the parts of Galilee." Years roll by, and these pious parents 
mingle with the throng of worshippers at Jerusalem. With what 
affection do they search, during three days of agony, for their lost 
child ! and how tender the remonstrance of Mary, when he is found 
in the temple among the doctors : " Son, why hast thou thus dealt 
with us ? — behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing." 
Last of all, see this mother as she stands in the loveliness of widow- 
hood before the cross of her son. Now " the sword," which Simeon 
predicted, " pierces through her soul." Shall we with profane hand 
remove the veil which inspired history has drawn over her grief ? 
Even the rough affection of Peter gushed forth unrestrained at the 
bare foresight of that cross and its impaled victim ; " This be far from 
thee, Lord." But the bowed and prostrate form of this poor female 
— who shall say whether it expresses most the agon}^ of a bereaved 
mother's heart or the deep worship of a Christian, who sees before 
her the great Propitiation for her sins ? And why should this ten- 
derness be ever banished from the domestic circle ? Why does God 
send us thus in groups through life, if not that reciprocated love 
may bear us the more easily over its rough places ; if not that the 
hand of affection may ever wipe the fallen tear, staunch the wounds 
of a bleeding heart, and sustain the head which droops in sorrow, 
or in death ? 



164 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

We hasten on, with the rapidity of suggestion only, to remark 
the filial subjection and piety of Jesus himself. We might antece- 
dently suppose that He who was Lord of all, and who came to 
earth only to execute the will of his Father in Heaven, how- 
ever he might rightfully draw upon the service and care of 
earthly kindred, would yet render no subjection to them. 
But no. He came to fill all the relations of a perfect man, and to 
render the exactest obedience to that law which defines them. In 
the brief history of his early life nothing is told us but that, under 
his parents' fostering care, he " grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled 
with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." But though 
distinguished by these attributes, he wanders not from the eye of 
his natural guardians. At the age of twelve years, inspired with a 
prophecy of his after work, he is seen in the temple at Jerusalem, 
teaching and confuting among the doctors. He parries the mild re- 
buke of his mother by as mild a reply, " Why is it that ye sought 
me ? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?" or 
as some with juster criticism understand him, Wist ye not that I 
must be in my Father's house ? that is, the Temple. Yet with this 
clear discovery of his superiority to them, these instructive words 
are added, " he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and 
was subject unto them." Authority and subjection are correlative 
terms. In the family constitution, God has made the husband the 
head of the wife, and the parents are united in a joint jurisdiction 
over the children. Never can this order be subverted or neglected 
without serious evils. The parents' right, under God, to command, 
and the child's obligation to obey, stand over against each other. 
The parent stands to the child as the appointed representative of 
God's dominion ; and the child who lifts himself against the parents' 
just commands puts himself in rebellion against the whole authority 
of God. It is to impress this wholesome truth upon us that the 
fifth commandment is the first with promise. Against the radicalism 
of the times, then — which would set the wife loose from the law of her 



THE HOLY FAMILY. 165 

husband, and emancipate the child from parental control — which 
would thus draw away the very underpinning of social order — we 
oppose both the authority and example of Christ. For the law 
which, as man, he honored by his most illustrious obedience, as God 
and as Redeemer, he binds upon the conscience with* all the sanctions 
of religion. Nor is particular subjection to parental government 
during the whole period of nonage all that is required. Throughout 
life an habitual reverence for a parent's person, which age renders 
more and more venerable, and a desire to reciprocate in their feeble- 
ness the care which we experienced in ours, this too is demanded by 
the law of nature and of God. It is among the most afFectino* inci- 
dents of the crucifixion that, while enduring physical tortures that were 
overwhelming, and a mental anguish which no finite mind can ever 
fathom, Christ still had a place in his heart for his sorrowing mother. 
" When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, 
whom he loved, he saith to his mother, Woman, behold thy son ! 
then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother : " and this remem- 
brance of his mother and provision for her welfare was just before 
he cried, " it is finished," and gave up the Ghost. If " the hoary 
head be a crown of glory," how much more in the sight of those 
for whose sake watchfulness and care have bleached it ! 

One last lesson from this instructive picture, before the curtain 
drops. Mary and Joseph act simply as trustees of the Infant Jesus. 
Mary, especially, accepts that trust in view of suspicion and obloquy 
most hard to bear. Through life the sword glitters before her which 
is to " pierce her soul." Nothing alleviates it, but the honor of 
being the mother of the Son of Man ; yet in her generation this 
honor was the infamy of being the mother of one almost univer- 
sally accounted an impostor. But though this trust presses against 
her bosom with a thousand lacerating points, she never shrinks in its 
discharge. Neither fear nor agony withdraws her from the cross, 
when bold men through the former alone had fled. In this day of 
enlarged labors for Christ's kingdom and glory, should not all Chris- 



100 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

tian parents especially hold their offspring under trust from God ? 
Many a widowed mother is called to consecrate the stay of her fail- 
ing years to the work of the Gospel in Heathen lands. May it not 
be that natural affection shall sometimes plead against a sacrifice, 
to it so severe, and be hardly silenced ? Yet let it be felt that the 
baptismal rite seals the child for God, and not for man ; and if 
" the Lord hath need of him," " loose him and let him go." Parents 
are but appointed trustees : is it for them to say in what way God 
shall reclaim the trust to himself ? 

The curtain falls. What general reflection will express the whole- 
some impressions of the reader from this sitting ? How momentous 
the thought, that no one is alone in the world ! At every point we 
touch another, and every touch vibrates in Eternity ! The family is 
the special school which God has instituted to train us all for the 
responsibilities of life. In this school let the lessons of love, of 
obedience, of self-subjection, and of labor, be well taught and be 
well learned. This, by the grace of God, may save from a life of 
uselessness and injury, and from an eternity of mourning amid un- 
profitable regrets. 



XVIII. 
THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 

BY CAROLINE CHESEBRO. 

" Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth a declara- 
tion of those things which are most surely believed among us, even 
as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eye- 
witnesses and ministers of the word ; it seemed good to me also," 
having sought for a perfect understanding of all things, to write 
unto thee, in order, beloved reader, that thou perhaps mightst be led 
to think more earnestly of those things wherein thou hast already 
been instructed. Grace be with thee, and faith from our Lord 
Jesus. 

Judea rejoiced in unprecedented peace and prosperity. The 
strong will, ability, and power with which King Herod reigned over 
the land had attached to it an importance and splendor to which 
it had hitherto been a strano-er. 

From holding merely the governorship of a comparatively unim- 
portant region, Galilee, that ruler came to be the independent 
sovereign of all Palestine — a king feared and disliked for the natural 
cruelty of his disposition, and because of the rigor and sternness 
with which he carried forward all his plans for self-advancement, 
and for the increased power of his kingdom ; beloved he w x as by 
none, and honored by few besides those whose greatness surpassed 
his own, who could afford to admire a firmness of will that had 
never for its object their subjugation ; and applauded or encouraged 
only by those beyond the reach of his cruelty and rapacity. 

The effectual aid Herod's father had rendered to Csesar had 
gained for the Idumean the fast friendship of the great Roman 

167 



168 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

Emperor ; and, in gratitude to Antipater, Caesar made him procura- 
tor of Judea. Very naturally, the father, occupying* this authorita- 
tive station, sought the advancement of his own sons ; and so we 
read that Herod, one of these sons, was ere long made the governor 
of Galilee. It was not very long before that youth, exulting in his 
power, and desirous to win distinction, began to exhibit those quali- 
ties which, in later years more fully developed, made the glory of 
his dominions, and the misery and disgrace of his private history. 

Herod did not reach his brilliant and powerful station as monarch 
of Palestine suddenly, neither were his honors altogether unsought. 
To reach that height he was forced to tread a path beset on every 
side with dangers ; but he trod it valiantly, and won the glory 
which was to him dearer than all things else. Some time after his 
father had appointed him to the government of Galilee, Herod and 
his brother Phasael were made tetrarchs of Judea ; and not long after 
this increase of their authority, those causes were set in operation, 
whose ultimate end was the elevation of Herod to the throne.* An 
army of Parthians entered Syria and Asia Minor ; and one of the 
Asmonean princes, named Antigonus, a claimant to the Judean 
throne, thinking it a favorable moment to assert his rights, and sup 
posing that he would be aided in his just attempt by the Parthians. 
marched with an army towards Jerusalem, and forced his way into 
that city. A fearful slaughter followed, without any prospect of a 
speedy cessation of hostilities, or of victory on either side. At 
length Antigonus proposed to Phasael that they should proceed 
together to the Parthian general, and leave with him the decision 
as to the justice of their cause. To this plan Herod's brother 
foolishly consented, but soon he discovered the trap which had 
been laid for him, and happily found means to convey to Herod 
the intelligence of the danger threatening him, with the necessity 
of his immediate flight. The younger brother fled from one place 
of safety to another, and finally to Rome, while the unfortunate 
Phasael destroyed himself in the prison to which he was conducted. 

* See Milman's Hist, of the Jews. 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 169 

From that city, which he had sought as a shelter in the time of 
danger, high in the favor of the Roman Emperor, Herod in a short 
time went forth again, the king of Palestine, with the crown upon 
his head. 

After two or three years spent in subduing his enemies and in 
conquering Jerusalem, welcomed by none, but feared by all, the 
people beheld him, an " alien from the house of Israel," seated on 
the throne, and holding over them the mastery. 

Herod appeared before his indignant subjects in a most unfavora- 
ble light. He had to brave the prejudices, the dislike, aye, even the 
hatred of a vast portion of his people ; and his hands were stained 
with the blood of the last of a favorite race of princes, for in the 
siege of Jerusalem Antigonus had been slain. But they soon found 
it was not with one who would patiently listen to their rebukes and 
murmurings that they had to deal. Herod was no weak and 
cowardly usurper, whom they could frighten from the throne. He 
was not the man to listen calmly and complacently to the complaints 
of his subjects, nor one to seek patiently and hopefully to deserve 
and win their affections. 

Fear was the prime minister he appointed to traverse the length 
and breadth of his land, and speedily that dark power was recog- 
nised ; the voices of the most indignant were hushed, and the most 
disaffected were effectually silenced. The destruction of the 
Sanhedrim, who had dared to withstand his authority, was a dread- 
ful example the people could not soon forget ; it had the effect to 
quiet angry voices, but it was scarcely the way to win the hearts 
of the people. 

The life of Herod, in common with the lives of all rulers who 
have unceasingly sought power, while conflicting at the same time 
with national and household enemies,, is marked and stained with 
fearful crimes. The murder of the brother of his beloved wife 
Mariamne, a boy gifted with extraordinary beauty, whom he 
appointed High Priest, and afterwards caused to be drowned, when 



170 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

lie beheld the undisguised interest felt in the youth by the mass of 
the people, who loved him because he was a descendant of the 
Asmoneans — the cruel and unmanly fear lest the magnificent 
Mariamne should, in case of his death, wed another, and the conse- 
quent command that if he fell in battle she also should perish — the 
murder of the grey-headed Hyrcanus, whose only sin that Herod 
saw fit to punish was his just claim to royalty — the destroying of 
his beloved Mariamne, when his ears and his heart were poisoned 
by the malicious stories framed by powerful members of his own 
household — the murder of many men of high rank, instigated by 
that fiend in human shape, his sister Salome — the destruction of the 
beautiful young sons of his best loved wife, at the suggestion of his 
infamous elder son, Antipater — the subsequent treachery of that 
wicked son, and the discovery, when too late, of the innocence of 
the murdered youths — the rage and hate that gathered in the 
father's heart for the perfidious Antipater ; all these crimes and 
then consequents serve to make the private life and history of Herod 
the Great remarkable for unrelenting cruelty, wrong, and self- 
inflicted torment. 

Filled, however, and running over with guilt as was Herod's life, 
as a man, his reign was a magnificent one, such as perhaps Pales- 
tine had never known before. 

After the fashion of the Romans, Herod expended vast sums of 
money in adorning and beautifying Jerusalem. On every side 
splendid public works arose as if by magic ; the streets and all pub- 
lic quarters of the city, with the great theatre, were adorned with 
images ; and games and sports were carried forward with a zest that 
filled the religious Jews with horror, and aroused in them the strong 
suspicion that their king had not only imitated the fashion of the 
heathen in the adorning of his palace and city, but that he had 
also made room in his heart for their religion, or rather no-religion. 
But when they murmured and accused him of abandoning the 
Jewish faith, to do away with such suspicions, he caused immediate 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 1 7 1 

and vast preparations to be made for the rebuilding of their temple. 
When the work was actually begun, and carried forward with the 
utmost zeal, their confidence in and respect for their monarch was 
immeasurably increased ; and out of this respect and confidence, love 
for Herod was awakened in many a heart. 

It was that temple which stood at last complete in its magnifi- 
cence on the summit of Moriah, the wonder and admiration of the 
people, and a new source of pride to the king ; it was that temple 
wherein, but a few years later, when Herod slept the sleep of death, 
our Saviour, the divine child, stood and reasoned with the learned 
and venerable doctors ; that temple around which, on a still later 
day, the dark clouds gathered, when its sacred veil was rent in 
twain, while from the graves of the splendid city arose the dead ; and 
even unbelievers, when they looked on the cross of Calvary, and 
heard the dying cry of Him who was there crucified, gave in their 
most unwilling testimony, " this is the son of God." 

But neither Herod's munificence, nor the zeal with which he pro- 
moted the prosperity of the land, nor the progress they had made 
under his government in the scale of nations, could silence all 
doubts, or quiet all fears, as to the justice of their king's reign, or 
his sincerity in conforming to the outward form of Judean worship. 

And among those Jews who looked with minds so troubled on the 
tendency and effects of Herod's sway, was one, who, holding ever 
steadfastly to the faith of his fathers, strove, in his feeble way, 
to counteract the heathenish influences of that monarch's domination. 
It is pleasing to turn from the records of a life and reign of such 
mingled crime and splendor as was Herod's, to the contemplation of 
a life so quiet and holy as that of the priest Zacharias. 

He was a descendant of the holy father Aaron, " of the course of 
Abia," an aged man when he is first introduced to our notice in the 
sacred history. He had looked on many strange scenes and changes 
in the government of his native land, both previous to and after the 
accession of Herod ; and the sorrows and losses which make up so 



172 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

great a part of the experience of all who have seen length of clays, 
had attended him. His hair had thinned and whitened beneath the 
heavy, unsparing hand of time ; his eyes had grown dim ; his hands, 
accustomed so long to holy ministrations, were trembling, for 
many years had robbed them of their strength ; but still continued 
he a steward of the " holy mysteries," always faithful, always heartily 
earnest in his services. Even the voice of inspiration proclaims him 
" righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordi- 
nances of the Lord, blameless." But had we not this gospel 
assurance of the excellence and peculiar worthiness of Zacharias, the 
mere fact that through sixty or seventy years he had been suffered 
to serve his Maker before the people, together with the knowledge 
of the crowning honor laid upon his head by the God he had wor- 
shipped so devotedly, were enough to prove that a man of no 
ordinary moral excellence and virtue was this priest. 

In the days of doubt and distrust, fear and danger, steadfastly he 
clung to the faith of his fathers, trusting patiently in the power and 
goodness of his Maker when Jerusalem was filled with the horrors of 
war, and human life was held of no account ; mindful ever, even 
when gazing on the splendors of Herod's court, and temple, and 
city, of a far higher glory and a more excellent greatness ; rejoicing 
when it fell to his lot to go up to the city and minister in the temple 
— happy and content when his feet turned away again from the 
magnificence of that service to the humbler scenes of his poor home. 
Patient, contented, faithful, filled with love towards man, and adora- 
tion for his God, — these were some of the chief characteristics of this 
most estimable man. 

It is heart-reviving to see the young man, in the strength of his 
years, dedicating himself to his Heavenly Father's service ; separating 
himself from the vanity of the world, directing all his energies and 
faculties to the good end of teaching sinners the way of salvation — 
guiding the erring, comforting the sorrowful, and striving to arouse 
the slumberers; proclaiming ever the tidings of great joy, and 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 1*73 

beseeching those afflicted with moral leprosy, to bathe in the cool and 
cleansing waters of His redeeming grace. But grander, nobler, 
more inspiriting, is the example of him who has well nigh finished a 
long, eventful life, having kept always the faith, never wavering, 
never giving way to the tempter, never failing to deliver faithfully 
his sacred message. Purified by the fire of worldly warfare, such spi- 
rits are the stars which shall shine for ever in God's firmament. 

The life of a priest, in the olden time, bore in it but little resem- 
blance to the lives of supineness and ease too often indulged in by 
His stewards and ministers of a later, would we could say, in every 
respect, a better day ! Frequently it fell in his turn to aid in 
carrying forward the imposing and intricate mode of worship by 
which it pleased Jehovah in those days to be recognised and adored. 
The offering up of sacrifices, an oft-repeated form, which kept con- 
stantly in the mind of the officiator the greater and more mightily- 
efficient sacrifice, of which the shedding of blood was but the type or 
symbol — the burning of the incense, whose perfumed clouds swept 
heavenward an emblem of the prayers of the faithful, which must be 
wholly pure, tainted with no sinful thoughts — and all the multitudi- 
nous forms and ceremonies, which in so great measure made up the 
solemn, awe-inspiring form of Jewish worship, were surely not 
calculated to induce in those who waited in the Temple, habits of 
ease or idleness. 

Descended from a line which traced its origin, through many 
generations, back to Aaron, the fraternal friend of the great lawgiver, 
Zacharias was from his earliest years instructed in all that would tend 
to prepare him for a life of constant self-sacrifice to God. Pride, and 
all the passions of the heart, must be early and completely subdued, or 
how could he hope properly to minister to the moral necessities of a 
people who worshipped a pride-hating God ? The sinful desires and 
inclinations to indulgence natural to youth, must be held in constant 
subjection, or how would he dare tread the solemn courts of that 
holy place dedicated to a spirit of purity, that would not tolerate 



174 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

iniquity in thought or deed ? A love, which no natural or worldly 
affection must be suffered to supersede, must ever be kept alive 
in his breast for Him who had redeemed his fathers from the land of 
cruel bondage, — who would yet redeem his people, and all nations, 
from a serfdom worse than that imposed by Pharaoh — a bondage of 
the soul to the powers of sin ! 

He had read in the books of the prophets of one whose voice, in a 
distant day, should be heard crying in the wilderness, " Prepare ye 
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." He knew that this 
messenger would come as the forerunner of the kino- who should be 
more mighty and more glorious than any who had ever reigned on 
earth, and so it had been through all his life his prayer, that ere he 
yet was called forth to that country from whence he might not return 
again, his eyes might look upon the glory of that kingdom, and 
himself know of the wisdom of that power. 

In choosing a wife, who was to be the companion of what might 
prove a long, disastrous pilgrimage, Zacharias sought her not amid 
the giddy daughters of pleasure, and wealth, and ease. 

Elisabeth was descended from the same priestly line with Zacha- 
rias. She brought to her husband no riches but the wealth of her 
heart's affection, but that he had chosen well and wisely, how 
conclusively their long, united, "blameless" life proves. Their 
conjugal fidelity, indeed, in a day when such a branch of morals 
was little heeded, adds one other great attraction to the consideration 
of the wedded life of these servants of the Most High. Elisabeth 
also, like her husband, had early given the best love of her soul to 
God, from which love, indeed, if the affections of the husband and the 
wife make it their common centre, will ever be found diverging those 
peaceful, joy-inspiring rays of light, which make beautiful and lovely 
the life of home ; while yet it serves as a beacon to guide them 
through all the enticements of the world, safely to that " rest " for 
which our earthly homes are given us only as a scene and an oppor- 
tunity for preparation. 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 175 

Zacharias and Elisabeth had lived together many years, — doubt- 
less they had their share of sorrow and affliction, but His mercy had 
supported them through all, because they trusted in Him. Age 
was casting its shadow over them, but they could look without 
remorse, without much of regret, into their past. Peace, mutual 
affection, trust in the one Almighty and the Ever Living, had 
given the prominent features to their domestic life ; — they could 
look forward beyond the ever-changing world into the future without, 
fear — for their faith was strong in God, who could make light to 
shine for them through the valley of shadows. They had never 
bowed before the idols of the world ; — love of fame, of worldly 
honor, of riches, they knew not ; — earth held for them no god, in 
whose worship they had forgotten the Invisible. Ah, we, who in 
our times of success and prosperity are so prone to forget God, might 
well learn of them who clung so faithfully to their trust in His good- 
ness, during all those long years when the good they desired most 
on earth was denied them ! 

There was a blessing they had longed and prayed for, and yet it 
had been withheld — not for their unworthmess or want of faith — but 
simply because it was the will of their Father. When the earth 
should at last enfold them, and hide them in her arms away from 
the sunlight and life, their name would perish from the earth. 
There was no child in their dwelling ; no youth whom the good 
father might lead in the Temple, as long, long ago, he had been led, 
there to be given up to the service of Jehovah ; no daughter, whose 
soft voice and tender love might be the comfort and joy of their old 
age ; no offspring, who, after finishing their life on earth in faith, 
might with them inherit eternal life. Their own existence had been 
a happy one ; how immeasurably would its happiness be brightened 
might there, through them and through His abounding mercy, be 
added, at last, one other to the innumerable throng of immortals, 
who dwell in the presence of His smile ! 



1*76 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

But years passed away, and with it their great hope, and on no 
lagging wings they beheld the hour of their departure approaching, 
while resignedly they awaited the summons Death should give. 

One day Zacharias left his home and went up to Jerusalem, for the 
days of his ministration in the Temple were at hand. No sign or pro- 
phetic thought was given him that, ere he should return to his wife, the 
goodness and the glory of the Lord would be manifested to him ; — 
there was no conviction in the breast of Elisabeth, that when she 
should next listen to the voice of her husband, whose farewell words 
now lingered so tenderly in her heart, he would look upon their 
child, and say, " his name is John I" 

It was morning, and the bent figure of the old priest passed 
through the crowd that gathered around the portals of the Temple, 
and entered, slowly and reverently, the sacred place. It was his lot 
to burn incense there that day. As he trod along the marble floor, 
and approached the altar whereon was placed the golden candlestick, 
filled with the lighted candles, typical of the spiritual illumination 
which he sought, there was spread through the holy temple such a 
rich flood of light, as contrasted strangely with the flickering gleam 
cast by the tapers upon the gilded ark and the splendid altar. In 
the east the sun was rising, and its first rays fell on the white, 
polished marble columns, on the carved ceiling, on the altar with its 
costly gold and jewelled adornments, and on that aged form that 
knelt so reverently in the midst of all that magnificence. 

But not greater was the contrast afforded in those illuminations, 
than that presented between the worship of God as it was, and the 
worship of Jesus as it must be. The golden candlestick and its 
burning tapers, how fit an emblem of the Jewish faith and the 
Jewish ceremonial ; of the falseness of the glow and the glitter of 
Herod's reign ! Those warm and life-reviving semblances, how true 
a representation of His reign and His glory, who was coming to 
illuminate the mental darkness of the people, who would give life to 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 177 

a dying faith, who would awake Israel to repentance, who would 
forgive sins ! 

But the day had not yet dawned, though it was so nigh at hand, 
when that sun was to arise, and so it was meet that the outer courts 
of the Temple should be filled with adoring worshippers ; it was meet 
that sacrifices should be offered, till the Saviour came and the great 
atonement was made ; that the priests should don their splendid vest- 
ments ; that the incense should be burned ; that the law of the old 
dispensation should be obeyed, till the new and comprehensive law 
— love towards man, and faith towards our Lord Jesus — should be 
given. 

Zacharias stood before the altar whence the smoke of the burnino- 
incense rose ; and while the sacred cloud ascended, he prayed for 
the multitude standing without the Temple, for Israel, for himself. 
On wings swifter even than those of air that lifted up the incense, 
his supplication was borne to heaven ; and behold, as he raised 
his eyes towards the invisible throne whose majesty he was ador- 
ing, beside the altar stood a form of wondrous light and glory ! 
What human thought or hand may paint an Angel ? — imagination 
falters, and my voice is faint — surely, the heart and the imagination 
are weak even to conceive of all that glory and beauty which shall 
one day be revealed to us ! Zacharias " was troubled and fear fell 
upon him" — the angel came not to speak accusing words to the 
trembling man ; still it was impossible for the old priest even to look 
on one who dwelt in the immediate presence of God, without pro- 
found emotion. 

But soon the heavenly messenger's words, so full of peace, so 
mild, and withal so glorious, assured the earth-born ; his aged eyes 
were raised and fixed in confidence upon the radiant form beside 
him. In breathless joy he listened to the words so full of blessed 
premise, to which, even while they sounded in his ear, he scarcely 
dared give credence. The terrified flutterings of his time-tried, but 
not time-chilled heart, ceased, when the Angel's message was 

8* 



178 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

delivered, and the aged man bent reverently down, as to his heart 
came the words of the heavenly promise, 

" Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard ! 

But even as the hopes of the fulfilment of these glad tidings grew 
strong in the mind of Zacharias, the thought of the improbability of 
such hopes ever receiving fruition grew stronger also. Should the 
blessing which had been so long withheld, be indeed granted when 
old age was his companion and Death drew near ? Was he yet to 
listen to the voice of childhood in his own home, and to learn the 
mio-ht and strength, of a father's love ? — it seemed to him a thins; 
impossible. Alas ! how weak and imperfect is the faith of humanity, 
even in its best development so often giving way, and leaving the 
poor mortal without any efficient stay in life ; so often incomplete, 
professing to believe in God, and yet not deaf to all voices that dare 
question His power and Almightiness ! 

" Whereby shall I know this ? for I am an old man, and my 
wife well stricken in years ?" 

" I am Gabriel," was the answer to the questioning priest, " that 
stand in the presence of God, and am sent to speak unto thee, and 
to show these glad tidings. And behold thou shalt be dumb, and 
not able to speak until the day when these things shall be performed, 
because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their 
season." 

And the priest stood before the angel dumb, unable to express his 
unbelief, even had its existence longer been possible ; and while the 
glorious form of light sped away, the glad mission performed, the 
poor, voiceless old man stood alone in the Temple, marvelling at 
those things he had seen and heard. 

Without the Temple walls stood the gathered people, old men 
and infants, young men and maidens, the beggar and the noble, the 
sick and diseased, and they in whose veins the tide of health and 
joyous life was flowing. Some in prayerful attitudes, whose suppli- 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 179 

cations were poured forth unmindful of the crowd around ; some, 
impatient of the long delay of Zacharias, whose blessing they were 
awaiting ; some, forgetful even of the sacred place where they were 
assembled, making plans for buying and selling, or talking over the 
last night's revel, or indulging in gay dreams for the future. Higher 
and higher rose the morning's sun, and still they remained there, all 
that multitude, awaiting the blessing. They little dreamed of the 
extraordinary scene transpiring so near them ; they knew not that 
an angel had come from heaven, and was standing within the Tem- 
ple, foretelling the nigh approach of a messenger, a heaven-sent 
missionary. 

At last came out into the porch the white-haired priest. He 
stood before them pale and trembling, gazing upon the upturned 
faces lovingly, but speaking not a word. He looked older and more 
time-worn even than usual, but in his eyes there was a gleam of joy 
that was long remembered gratefully by many of the miserable on 
whom the kindly glance fell. He raised his hands, as though he 
would fain bless the multitude, but no words broke from his lips, 
and the people said among themselves, " He has had a vision in the 
temple." Filled with wonder and fear, they turned slowly away 
from the holy place. If a lesson may be learned that we would do 
well never to forget, from the life-devotion of this priest to God ; from 
the confidence he had for so many years evinced that He had 
ordered His servant's life in wisdom ; and from the faithfulness of 
his connubial love, which forbade his putting aside his aged wife 
Elisabeth for a younger and a fairer woman, a practice frequent 
among his people — would it not be also wise in us to take warning 
from the punishment inflicted on the old man for a momentary want 
of faith in that power with whom all things are possible ? It was no 
weighty dereliction of which Zacharias was guilty. Alas for the 
calculating soul that doubts, and weighs, and wavers, until the trial 
hour of probation has passed, and the seal — the seal of God's dis- 
pleasure — is unalterably set ! 



180 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

At the close of the clays of his appointed ministration in the .Tem- 
ple, Zacharias returned to his own home, which was in Hebron, as 
is supposed, in the " Hill Country." He went not back to Elisabeth 
the trembling, worn-out pilgrim, whose life journey was well nigh 
finished, whose loves and hopes were nearly weaned from earth, but 
bearing a happy heart that was filled with a great and a God-sanc- 
tioned hope, feeling the strength of earlier years renewed in his frame, 
rejoicing in the great honor which was at last to attend his house, 
and eager to communicate to his wife the wondrous message of the 
angel. Judea had not within its borders a happier home in that 
day than the home of Zacharias. There were loftier and more luxu- 
rious dwelhngs, and forms that were clad in the fine linen and the 
purple every day, but the rich and the noble never knew such grati- 
tude and joy as was then in the hearts of that venerable pair. In 
the midst of their poverty how rich were they ! They needed no 
coffers of gold, no costly garments, no splendid habitation. The 
sunshine of content made their lives beautiful ; the blessing, the love 
of God, was their crown of glory and their reasonable cause for joy. 
They knew not if the child whom God would send to proclaim to 
the world another King, even an heavenly — another Ruler, even an 
Almighty one — was to lead on earth a life of splendor or misery ; but 
this they knew, that He who commissioned him would be an all- 
sufficient protector. In honor or poverty, in prosperity or disgrace, 
He who had said, " He is my messenger," would uphold and com- 
fort him. 

There was heard the voice of childhood in that home ; the meek 
and loving Elisabeth held in her arms the precious gift her God had 
given, and the father's soul overflowed with thanksgiving. Infancy 
and old age, the " wonder child" and the grey-headed parents ! It 
is a group on which the mind loves to rest — a simple picture from 
which the willing heart may learn a lesson of wisdom. 

In that home assembled the friends and neighbors of the parents 
to rejoice with them, and to give a name to the infant ; there was 



THE FAMILY OF ZACH ARIAS. 181 

sympathy and heartfelt gladness in the words of those who came to 
bless the child, and to behold the honor the Lord had laid upon his 
servants ; aye, and in heaven, around the throne of Jehovah, there 
was also thanksgiving and adoration, and the songs of the angels 
went forth in praise of him who was hastening the hour of his 
appearance on earth as a Redeemer and Sanctifier, who had now 
sent his messenger to prepare the way for his coming. It was in the 
presence of all the witnesses who had gathered to circumcise his 
child that the voice of Zacharias came again to him ; it was there 
he broke forth into the beautiful song of praise, testifying thus 
with his recovered powers his strengthened faith and his thankful 
spirit. 

" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and 
redeemed his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us 
in the house of his servant David ; as he spake by the mouth of his 
holy prophets, which have been since the world began : that we 
should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all that 
hate us ; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to 
remember his holy covenant ; the oath which he sware to our father 
Abraham, that he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out 
of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, in holiness 
and righteousness before him all the days of our life. And thou, 
child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou shalt go 
before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge 
of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins, through 
the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring from on 
high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and 
in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." 

John the Baptist was not, as the son born to Abraham in his old 
age, the long-promised and the long-delayed ; nor was he come to 
redeem a world lying in wickedness, as did Emanuel, the Virgin 
Mary's child ; there was no pompous rejoicing over him, as when 



182 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

an heir of worldly wealth and pride is born in the dwelling-places 
of the great, — yet a hope, and a fear, and an exceeding joy, such as 
is seldom known in any home, was born with him. No light 
mission was that on which he was sent. " To make ready a people 
prepared for the Lord !" A monarch so jealous, and even on the 
alert to know the faintest questioning of his right to reign, as was 
Herod, it was not for a moment supposable that he would be deaf 
to a voice arousing his people to the knowledge of another King, 
and demanding for him their allegiance. Danger would probably 
attend every step of that child's after progress. No matter what was 
the nature of that reign for which he came to prepare the people, 
the mere fact that he was bespeaking the interest of a nation for a 
strange ruler was one implying danger, constant and imminent, to 
the messenger. Yet, dangerous as the mission of their son might 
prove, though it was obviously such as made the parents at times 
weep and tremble as they ministered to his helplessness, still did 
they confide in that power which was even than Herod's more 
mighty. They must not shrink back — must not strive to thwart his 
will, though temptation might at times be strong ; they must go 
forward, bearing the boy, if need be, to the fiery furnace or the 
sacrificial altar ! 

" And the child grew and waxed strong, and was in the deserts 
till the day of his showing unto Israel." 

That is all Scripture tells of the early years of John the Baptist ; 
but does it require any wild imaginative powers to form a reasonable 
idea of his youth ? Filled from his birth with the Holy Ghost as he 
was, it is not supposable that the Messenger would not, without the 
least parental guidance, have come before the world, the same strong, 
lion-hearted forerunner, — the same bold accuser and condemner of 
sin, no matter whether he found it dwelling beneath the princely 
robe or the beggar's rags. Had he never known the worth of a 
father's counsel and a mother's tender care, he would undoubtedly, 



THE FAMILY OF ZACH ARIAS. 183 

as one God had sent, have as constantly given utterance to that deep, 
world-entrancing, world-interesting theme, — repentance towards 
God. 

" Repent ! repent !" would have as surely been the burden of his 
cry, had there not been in his humble home " in the deserts " 
a human voice to teach of heaven and hell, or a human, hand 
to direct his eyes and his feet to the narrow way. 

God needs no human instruments to carry forward his wondrous, 
mysterious designs. Christ needed no forerunner to prepare his way ; 
but who can turn with a deaf ear or careless heart from the record 
of the humblest of the servants He deigned to employ ? or who 
would care to acknowledge that for him it had been as well if the 
holy, fearless, constant advocate of justice, John the Baptist, had 
never lived ? 

Bethlehem resounded with the cries of mothers weeping for their 
children, who refused to be comforted because they were not, for 
Herod sought thus to destroy the infant child of Mary, fearful, 
though he knew his own end was approaching, that the Jesus who 
was born, would wrest from his successors the earthly power he 
loved so well. 

But Herod died, and in Egypt, the carpenter, with his wife, and 
the " Son of man," were dwelling in safety. The triumph of the 
king of Judea was passed, his magnificence was ended ; he knew 
it, and, determined that his people should in the day of his death be 
wretched as himself, he ordered that in Jerusalem there should be an 
universal massacre, so that if his people could not mourn for him, 
they should have occasion to weep and lament for themselves, — that 
they should ever remember his death with fearful agony and 
grief. 

They buried Herod in splendor, with the crown amid whose golden 
bands and jewels thorns had been woven, — with the crown he had 
worn in such stately pride, placed on his head, and the sceptre 
which had indeed, in his hand, proved an iron sceptre, resting by 



184 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

his side, it seemed as though in mockery of his vanished power. 
Then they laid him away in a princely tomb — and others reigned 
in Judea in his stead. 

During all this time, the child John was living in the desert, and 
the day was hastening " for his showing unto Israel." How often, 
as that day drew nigh, would the mother's heart have failed her, as 
she looked on the beautiful countenance of her son, listening with all 
a mother's innocent pride to the glowing, fiery, inspiring words with 
which the boy gave utterance to the mighty thoughts dwelling 
within his breast, had it not been that God, in whom she trusted, 
gave to her that strength which he will give to every parent who 
looks to him for help ! How often, but for his higher love towards 
God, would the father's affection have caused him to mourn over the 
fate that would so soon remove that innocent, loving, and obedient 
child from their protecting care ! 

Yes, doubtless, fears at times encompassed them. The over- 
weening power of human love, doubtless, occasionally was stronger 
than their spirit of self-sacrifice ; but, reader, there was dwelling 
within them in their desert home, a somewhat that strengthened 
their weak human hearts for the trial hour, that upheld them and 
made them brave in the presence of danger, that endued them with 
power to hope, and to believe, and to bear all things. To the parents 
at best but a few years remained in store ; and for the son, even his 
youth and vigor were no guarantee of length of days. Every ill 
might encompass them during the time of their remaining pilgrim- 
age ; and yet, beyond all cares and vexations, trials and dangers, 
beyond the endurance of the cross, heavy as it might prove, 

" Beyond the clouds, and beyond the tomb," 

remained for them all, if faithful to the end, a rest unfading, eternal ; 
such as the power of Herod could not buy for him ! such as the infi- 
nite grace of God only can give ; such as man can never demand as 
a right, or hope for save through grace ! 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 185 

In an age when faith seems to have lost its vital and essential 
power, — when the necessity of confidence and unfeigned trust in 
God seems the last necessity recognised, it would be well for us, 
perhaps, did we oftener turn our thoughts to those times when the 
lives of our Father's chosen were lives of constant, unreserved self- 
sacrifice ! Think of it ! There is no conceivable danger man's heart 
cannot nerve itself to brave, if he may but gain riches and the 
applause of the world ! 

There come to us tidings that in a far-off region, in the wild caves 
of nature, lie stores of gold, which all who will may gather, and a 
mighty nation is moved : all the dearest ties are severed without a 
thought of regret, and in the face of danger, hardship, and death, the 
human tide goes rushing on in search of gold ! But, the repent ye ! 
repent ye ! of John the Baptist, that comes echoing through the long 
vista of eighteen hundred years, strengthened and commended by 
the teachings of Him whose very words are life to them who will 
believe — ah ! how feebly that cry resounds through our sin-hardened, 
care-burdened, world-loving spirits ! Ever with untiring voice the 
Messenger is heard crying in the wilderness of sin ; but even as our 
rebellious fathers did, we turn away, we have no time to listen. 
Have we not gold to seek ? and fame to win ? and mighty works to 
do? 

The early years of John's life passed ; and at length, from an 
obscure dwelling-place, a young man went forth, clad in rude, coarse 
garments, whose outward guise bore witness only to his humility and 
poverty. Alone, unknown, he entered on the mission for which he had 
been born. The people of the towns and villages through which he 
passed, when they heard his strange words, looked upon him, some 
of them with curiosity, and others with amazement ; some with 
scorn, others — but oh, how few ! — with aroused attention, and an 
inclination to believe. 

Faithfully was that message delivered. By the roadside, to the 
traveller who was journeying through the same paths with him, he 



186 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

told with words so earnest of Him who was coming to demand the 
homage and love of all, that his listener was constrained to believe in 
the truth of the message, or to question the sanity of John ; and who 
that knows the human heart will wonder, if the latter was the con- 
clusion often arrived at, and that the incredulous were often glad to 
forget such earnest, searching words as rang in their ears, in the 
thought — "He hath a devil." In the villages, to the wondering 
laborers and countrymen — to them whose lives were lives of toil — to 
the weary -fishermen resting by the river side — to children — to the 
aged — to the thoughtless pleasure-seeker and to the beggar — to the 
noble, the rejoicing, and the sorrowing, alike those momentous 
words were poured forth, " Repent ! for the kingdom of heaven is at 
hand ! " 

It is but reasonable to suppose that by the poor and destitute of 
those cities and villages through which the strange preacher passed, 
those promises of a king, just and good, who was coming to bless 
and save them, would be eagerly welcomed and believed. And, in 
accordance with the sinful nature of man's heart in the time of 
prosperity, is the supposition and the fact, that the rich and gay, 
well satisfied with their condition, wished for no better day than 
that they already had, and scorned so humble a messenger !■ 

That youth was he, of whom so long ago Esaias had prophesied, 
saying, " The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the 
way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be 
filled, and every mountain shall be brought low ; and the crooked 
places shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made 
smooth ; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God !" That youth 
was the son of the " blameless" Zacharias and Elisabeth — John the 
Baptist. 

As he pursued his way and came to the " region round about 
Jordan," the rumor of his preaching preceded him, and people 
thronged to hear what he had to say to them. In every public 
place his voice was heard ringing out his warning, condemning, and 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHAKIAS. 



entreating words. Grey-headed men trembled before trie fearless 
youth. They, who out of curiosity stood within the sound of his 
voice, were many of them " cut to the heart." And when these 
expressed to him at last their glad belief, his hands laid on their 
heads the sacred waters of baptism ; sinful hearts quailed before 
him ; the jeers and laughs of the unbelievers were more rarely 
heard ; the coward trembled at his words, as he had never trembled 
in the face of mortal danger ; and even proud men, who heard by 
chance the powerful doctrines of the preacher, to whom, in person, 
they would not deign to listen, felt humbled many a day by the 
condemning truths, which shot like w T ell aimed arrows through their 
hearts. Even the " careless daughters" (would there were a John 
the Baptist to so speak, and so arouse the " careless daughters" and 
" the womeu of ease" now !) wept in secresy over follies, to whose 
iniquity the youthful messenger's preaching had for the first time 
effectually opened their eyes. And many who would not turn a 
step out of their path that they also might hearken with the deeply 
moved multitude to the preacher's warnings and counsel, they, too, 
at a later day when all Judea was moved, joined in the cry which 
from that time through all succeeding ages of the world has arisen 
from the hearts of repentant sinners, and will arise until the judg- 
ment day — " What shall we do to be saved ?" 

" Bring forth fruit meet for repentance !" was the reply, applica- 
ble now and ever, as then, — purge yourselves of secret sins — forget 
the things that are behind, and press forward for the prize of the 
love of Christ Jesus ! — lay down your weapons of pride and rebellion 
— cease from covetousness — give to the poor — be obedient where 
obedience is a virtue ! 

Know ye whence he had the bravery to speak these words in the 
ears of a powerful people and government ? The Holy Ghost Avas 
with him ! 

If there is one whose eye is resting on this page, who hears sound- 
ing in his heart words the spirit is prompting him to utter for the good 



188 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

of those about him, words which self-interest or fear of world-con- 
demnation would tempt him to stifle, when oppressed or outraged 
humanity might be bettered, and aided, and encouraged by their 
utterance, Oh if there be, be thou a John the Baptist in spirit, and 
word, and deed, and thou, too, mayest be a blessed herald of a 
better day to them who are mourning and pining in darkness. 

How anxiously must the hearts of home, of the father and mother, 
when they had blessed their child and sent him forth, have watched 
and waited to know the reception his preaching and himself would 
meet from that " rebellious and untoward generation !" With what 
thankfulness and gladness must Elisabeth have heard the tidings of 
the valiantness and success with which he advocated the cause of 
their master ; and with what joy must that aged father have beheld 
the fearlessness and force of his son's ministry ! A comfort, an 
intense satisfaction was theirs, even in their loneliness, such as no 
worldly power could affect or destroy ; for themselves, and he they 
loved better than all else in life, were in the hands of one mighty to 
save. 

" John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, 
and ye say he hath a devil !" were the expostulatory words our 
Saviour addressed to the Pharisees when they reviled Him for eating 
with publicans and sinners. And considering them in another light 
than as a truth employed in that argument, what an insight that 
simple sentence gives us into the personal character of the Baptist ! 
Refraining ever from companionship with sinners, and from all indul- 
gence that would prove to those ever ready to imagine evil, that 
earth was more to him than a mere scene of pilgrimage, or a journey 
en which it was his to teach the travellers who thronged the road 
through which he passed — giving way to no appetite — chaining and 
holding always in subjection his human passions — constantly ab- 
sorbed in the one thought, the immense importance of the tr^st com- 
mitted to him — that of awakening a careless, unbelieving people — 
pure in habit and in heart, self-denying, self-forgetful, John was and 



THE FAMILY OP ZACHARIAS. 189 

is an example — not only to the teachers of the people — not only to 
man in his dealings with man — not only as a witness of that great 
truth, that straightforwardness and strict honesty in act and in 
speech is ever the best policy ; but also in the relations of his private 
life, how brilliant a lesson is he to us, in the simplicity and godli- 
ness of his life, and in the noble purity of his heart ! giving to the 
selfish, over-careful multitude such lessons in charity — to the self- 
righteous Pharisees of all ages such instruction in the principles of 
justice — to the cruel, tyrannical soldiery such exhortations to mercy, 
and to all who could hearken to him, the glad tidings, that one was 
coming after him, and was even then nigh at hand, far mightier than 
he, who would give to all ready to receive, a baptism — not simply 
of water, but a baptism into life and blessed immortality ! 

There were none so lonely, and destitute, and vile, within the 
sound of the messenger's voice, that to them his words were not 
applicable ; none so lofty, that he dared not tell them of One in 
whose hands they were but dust, who would condemn and visit for 
their sins if they did not repent. 

The kingdom over which, in undivided power, Herod reigned, at 
his death was given into the hands of two rulers. Over Galilee 
Herod the tetrarch was made king. He was a proud, wicked, and 
crafty man ; but, aside from the errors and wickedness of his govern- 
ment, he had committed an act of gross wrong in putting away his 
own wife, and contracting a criminal alliance with a near relative, 
named Herodias — a woman ambitious and designing, destitute of all 
good or virtuous feeling, who in the end proved the curse and the 
ruin of the reign and the life of him who had so unlawfully wedded 
her. 

Maddened by the accusation which the fearless, noble preacher 
dared to bring against her, Herodias persuaded the king to imprison 
John, doubtless even then revolving in her mind some plan by which 
she might accomplish, or be the means of his ruin, disgrace, and 
death. 



190 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

And had they yet departed to the home of the just, those aged 
parents of John, in the day when their forebodings were realized, 
and chains were laid upon the vigorous limbs of their young son ? 
The sacred pages throw no light upon their after lives. We know 
not if they were resting from their labors in the land of God's peace 
in the hour when dangers gathered thickly round the youth ; nor 
whether, alone by their fireside, they still communed together, pray- 
ing that God would rescue and preserve their child. Feasting and 
mirth and sin were in the halls of Herod; dwelt they still in 
poverty together, or had one already departed, leaving the beloved 
companion to bear the double affliction % What would it avail us 
to know, if we have not already learned one lesson from the love, 
faith, humility, patience, and obedience to God in all things, of the 
family of Zacharias ? 

It would seem that John, in the very midst of his useful career, was 
suddenly deprived of his great power to teach, and counsel, and 
warn. It was not so. His mission was ended ! He had scattered 
broadcast the seed which was to spring up and bear fruit in the day 
when Christ should speak the word. The work of the sower was 
done. What need for him to tarry till the harvest ? 

The hands which had poured the waters of regeneration over the 
repentant people were in chains ; but how nobly the labor set for 
them had been fulfilled 1 Had they not rested in their baptismal 
office on the head of the Redeemer ? They had been folded in 
infancy, when his father taught the little one to pray ; they had 
been uplifted while his words, falling like coals of fire amid the mul- 
titude, startled the gainsaying generation ; they had ever done holy 
work, and what if they did wear the chains of Herod ? The heart 
which had never beaten with love, save of the purest and most exalted 
nature, might have throbbed at first wildly, beneath the shameful, 
galling bonds ; might have panted and longed to carry on that good 
work so gloriously begun ; might have questioned if his mission 
were to end thus ingloriously : but John had not learned the lesson 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 191 

of submission in vain. Ere long the peaceful conviction was again 
ascendant that if his Lord had need of him, He would in an instant 
force from those limbs their vile fetters, fling wide the prison doors, 
and let the captive go free. 

It was a festive night. The lords of his kingdom were gathered 
with Herod in the magnificent banqueting hall of his palace, and 
on swift wings the pleasure-freighted hours sped away. A cloud was 
gathering over the bright summery sky of those men's existence ; its 
fury perchance has not yet fully broken on them — it may not " till 
that day" — but then ? 

The eyes and the senses of the king and of his nobles were in- 
flamed with the wine they had so freely quaffed ; the tables before 
them bent with the weight of vessels of silver and gold, that were 
filled with the choicest and the costliest food, and numberless lamps 
spread over the splendid display a brightness like that of sunlight. 
Afar there wandered one " who had not where to lay his head," — the 
Son of Mary, the Lord God Omnipotent, robed in the poor gar- 
ments of humanity ! And within the sound of the mirth and 
revelry in Herod's palace, John the Baptist knelt in his prison cell 
and prayed ! 

Into the great hall where the pride of Galilee was gathered, glided 
a light and graceful form, the beautiful young Salome. More like 
some fairy shape than one of human mould the young girl seemed 
to those delighted guests ; and voices that had been heard to ring 
fiercely in the battle fields, and sternly in the halls of state, were 
raised in wondering admiration as the maiden moved on in the 
dance. 

Pleased and excited by the homage rendered the daughter of 
Herodias, the king exclaimed to Salome, " Name but the gift thou 
desirest ! though it were the half of my kingdom, I would give it 
thee !" 

Joyfully sped the young girl away to her mother to learn of her 



192 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

the gift it was most fitting she should ask. Admiring glances fol- 
lowed her as she went, and the heart of many a youth beat wildly 
while gazing on her beauty. But when she came again, and passed 
with a slow and heavy step through the crowd of courtiers, with 
head bent, and face so pale and sorrowful, there was a murmur of 
wonder, and men gathered anxiously round the king to hear her 
name the gift she prized the highest. Oh how cruelly sharp and 
piercing was the youthful voice that made the fell demand, — " I will 
that thou give me the head of John the Baptist in a charger /" 

And for his oath's sake King Herod suffered it to be so. 

The prisoner was alone in his cell in the darkness. A damp, 
chilly, comfortless place was that prison, but at nightfall a ray of sun- 
light had streamed through the barred window. It seemed to him like 
the visitation of an angel — perhaps, he knew not, it was the angel 
heralding to him another day than would dawn upon the people of 
the earth. But John was not afraid ; there was a Spirit with him 
there — the Spirit God had sent. It strengthened and supported 
him ; that same spirit who had spread such happiness through his 
early home, who had ever proved the consoler of his aged parents 
and himself. Hours passed on ; it drew near midnight, when, in 
the deep hush of the prison, the wakeful missionary heard footsteps 
moving through the passage leading to his cell. Were they come 
to liberate him ? 

They entered the narrow room ; one of the stern men bore in his 
hand a light, the other carried with him instruments of death ! 

" The king demands thy head !" was the greeting to the prisoner. 
One supplication, 'twas not for life or liberty — one prayer, it was for 
their forgiveness and his acceptance, and the obedient head was 
bowed, and the heart of Zacharias' son was ready for the sacrifice. 
The oblation was made, and that strong intellect was before another 
sunrise grasping loftier truths than the heart or mind of man hath 
ever yet conceived. 

And then the head whose brain had teemed with such lofty, 



THE FAMILY OF ZACHARIAS. 193 

zealous, generous thoughts, was given to the maiden in the presence 
of the multitude who gathered around Herod. And Salome bore it 
to her mother ; and the murderess smiled when she knew the sin- 
condemning voice of John was hushed for ever ! But it was quite 
another group that met and wept over the mutilated form which 
had spent itself in the Redeemer's service. The disciples bore away 
from the prison the precious body, and laid it in a lonely grave. It 
was a place ever consecrated and precious in their memory — a place 
where many a tear of deep repentance fell — a place where more 
than one heart grew strong and bold to follow in the Baptist's 
footsteps ! 

Thus was laid to his rest the first soldier in that most glorious 
army, whose ranks, composed of brave hearts of every nation, and 
kindred, and tribe, are scattered now over the wide earth. God 
grant there may be found some few amid the multitude as worthy 
to do battle and to die for the great " Captain of our Salvation, as 
the Messenger sent to prepare the people for His coming." 

But yet, dear reader, it is not warriors ready to fight to the death 
in His service, that are chiefly wanted now ! Rarely among us is 
the sacrifice of blood required. I would my voice might take unto 
itself wings, and penetrate not the remote wildernesses — not to the 
heathen nations beyond seas, but unto fastnesses more difficult to 
penetrate ! into the cold, dead hearts which have so long heard the 
Word in vain — into the recesses of homes where fathers toil early 
and late without ceasing, enduring .anxieties, cares, and hardships 
incredible, and all to lay up for their children stores of perishing- 
wealth. 

I would my voice might come unto the mothers whose pride is 
in the beauty, and grace, and talents of their children, that they 
might be constrained to think if worldly honor and success, and the 
applause of perishing sinners, is the best good they can hope to 
secure for their offspring. I would I might approach the children 
hedged in by the almost impenetrable wall of custom and fashion 

9 



194 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE, 

of the world, that I might entreat them to think much of that mis- 
sion on which they are sent ! 

Thon father ! hast thou taught thy sons to be messengers of 
Truth to the world. Through the dark paths which they must 
tread, what light hast thou put into their hands to guide them ? 
Hast thou sent them forth to prepare their brethren, inasmuch as 
they may, for the Saviour's second coming ? or hast thou read of 
Zacharias in vain ? 

And thou mother, for what hast thou prepared thy daughters ? 
Hast thou made them beautiful and graceful, and taught them to 
strive to please and charm mankind — to dazzle and shine in the 
scenes of fashion, when thou mightst have made them beacon-lights 
to save the " tempest-tossed ?" or hast thou sent them missionaries 
into the world, to guide, and bless, and teach ? 

And ye children — young men and maidens, what is it ye are 
living for ? Folly, and pleasure, and fame, and gold ? Is it to 
shine in the dance — to grace the festival — to win names of honor — 
to be recorded on the " Scrolls of Fame ?" Are ye scorning the 
builders of the Safety Ark, and turning deafly away from the voice 
of the messenger. 

Ye cannot — remember, ye cannot plant brilliant flowers on the 
broad and pleasant way, and at the same time make straight the 
paths of the Lord ; neither may ye stand idle all the day. Which 
will ye choose, God or Mammon ? Messengers of Jesus or of the 
Evil One, which will ye prove ? Oh, may the Holy Spirit that 
dwelt in and inspired John the Baptist help you to decide, and 
to-day, if ye will hearken unto my voice — harden not your hearts ! 



THE FAMILY AT BETHANY. 

BY REV. S. D. BURCHARD. 

" Behold the place where Jesus often dwelt, 
While soft compassion all his spirit moved ; 
And friends who gloried in his presence felt 
The joy of loving, and of being loved." 

Many of the places mentioned in Scripture are associated with 
some signal event which has hallowed them in the memory of the 
good. That event may have been transient ; perhaps the outgush 
of some terrible emotion, or the uplifting of the arm of Deity, either 
for deliverance or destruction. Be it what it may, — a miracle of 
mercy or a manifestation of wrath, — the place of its occurrence is an 
object of interest to the succeeding generations of men. What a 
rush of old memories, venerable as time and awful as the treadings 
of the Almighty, comes over the traveller as he stands upon Sinai 
or Horeb, dark, rugged, and awe-inspiring ! Less terrific, but not 
less hallowing, are the associations which cluster around Carmel, 
Hermon, and Mount Zion, " where the Lord commanded his blessing, 
even life for ever more." These places may be bleak and wild, 
barren of every vestige of modern art, but they possess a charm 
which no romance can equal or poetry describe. Dearer and still 
more attractive memory-places are those rendered sacred by the 
miracles and ministry of Him who was God manifest in the 
flesh. 

In the lapse of time and in the unfolding mysteries of Providence, 
we see the star which had hung over the darkness of Eden in the 
form of a distant and doubtfully interpreted promise, pointing out 
Bethlehem of Judea as the birth-place of Jesus, the anointed King 

195 



196 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

of Israel. And now is beginning to be seen, in all its marvel and 
in all its magnificence, the fulfilment of the prophetic saying, " But 
thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thou- 
sands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me, that 
is to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from 
everlasting." — Micah v. 2. 

Bethlehem would long since have faded from the memory of 
man, had it not been mentioned in prophecy and distinguished in 
history, as the chosen spot over which the wings of angels hovered 
to welcome the advent of the Son of God. 

Cold, indeed, must that man's piety be, which is not kindled to a 
warmer glow as he stands amid these clustering associations, treads 
the streets of the Holy City, or walks the mountain slopes of Judea, 
or listens to the murmuring waters of the Jordan. 

But of all the places recorded in Scripture, perhaps none is more 
sacred than the little village of Bethany. Though not recognised by 
this name in the Old Testament, it is frequently mentioned in the 
Talmud, and is undoubtedly a place of great antiquity. It is situ- 
ated on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, on the road to 
Jericho, about two miles from the city of Jerusalem. This village, 
romantic and retired, was distinguished in the days of our Saviour 
as the residence of Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. 
It was to this place, amid the pressure of his trials and the fatigues 
of his labors, that He was accustomed to repair. It was the soft 
green, on which his heart found repose from the trials of a hard and 
toilsome life. It was in this pious family, where love and religion 
blended their hallowing light and influence, that he met with those 
little kindnesses and attentions, which were so soothing to his sensi- 
tive nature, and made him feel that there was one spot of earth at 
least partially restored to its primeval bloom and beauty. It was 
here that the human and social of the man Jesus were gratified. In 
other relations he awed the multitude by the grandeur of his mira- 
cles and the flashings forth of his divine nature ; but in the family 



THE FAMILY AT BETHANY. 197 

at Bethany lie was the companion and the friend, cultivating and 
honoring those social and domestic attachments, which relieve earth 
of much of its care and make it a type and emblem of heaven. 

This was doubtless a Jewish family educated in the Hebrew faith, 
and strictly observant of that ancient form of worship ; but their hearts 
had been opened to the reception of that truth which giveth light. 
The shadow had been yielded for the substance, the scaffolding for 
the building, the type for the anti-type, Moses for Jesus. How this 
family had been brought under the influence of this Divine Teacher, 
the history does not definitely inform us. They may have met him 
in the Temple, at some of their religious feasts, and attracted by his 
meek and gentle bearing, they may have extended to him the hos- 
pitalities of their quiet home, where he planted the spiritual seed 
grain in hearts previously and providentially prepared, which subse- 
quently sprang up and ripened into a harvest of enduring and 
immortal growth. Whatever may have been the circumstances 
which led to their conversion, they evidently became devotedly 
attached to the Saviour's person and mission. Though as yet there 
had been no formal renunciation of their former faith and worship — 
no seclusion from their brethren according to the flesh — still holier 
fire had been kindled upon their ancient family altar, and holier 
incense had risen from their hearts, than ever ascended from golden 
censers. With an earnest and full faith, they had received Jesus as 
the true and promised Messiah, the hope of Israel and the Saviour 
thereof. Many are the evidences of the individual faith and piety 
of this interesting family. The fact that they received and enter- 
tained the despised and rejected Nazarene manifests an affection and 
a fortitude truly commendable in that age of prejudice and persecu- 
tion. What but a true faith in Him as the Messiah, enabled them 
to endure the odium attached to their voluntary fealty and friend- 
ship ? Doubtless they loved Jesus as a man, but they trusted in 
him as God. It was more than the outgush of natural affection 
which prompted Mary to that noble sacrifice which incurred the 



198 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

censure of at least one of the disciples. It was a precious memorial 
of her faith — an act of piety which has rendered her name illustrious 
and immortal. And she was commended by him who appreciated 
the affectionate token, and he said by way of reproof to her accusers : 
" Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole 
world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of, for a memo- 
rial of her." 

This pious act is mentioned by at least three of the Evangelists. 

John, more minute in his details, says, that " She took a pound 
of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, 
and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the 
odor of the ointment." 

What an exhibition of love and humility is here ! 

" With tears she washed his sacred feet, 

And wiped them with her flowing hair ; 
And freely took the ointment sweet, 
And poured its costly fragrance there." 

Luke mentions another fact which illustrates the piety of these 
sisters of Bethany : " Now it came to pass, as they went, that he 
entered into a certain village ; and a certain woman, named Martha, 
received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, 
which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his words. But Martha 
was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, 
dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? Bid 
her, therefore, that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto 
her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many 
things ; But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good 
part which shall not be taken away from her." — Luke x. 38. 

Now this brief narrative brings to view their respective and 
distinctive traits of character. Both were pious, both loved Jesus, 
and both desired to serve him. Mary seems to have been the more 
gentle and loving in her disposition : her piety was of the calm and 



THE FAMILY AT BETHANY. 199 

meditative cast. She was content to be the passive and delighted 
recipient of those divine teachings that distilled like the dew from his 
lips. The world, Avith its anxieties and troubles, its everyday per- 
plexities and cares, was nothing to her, so long as she could sit 
a charmed listener at the Master's feet. She loved with all the deep 
intensity of a trustful and devoted heart. She may not have had the 
elements of endurance, self-denial, and womanly fortitude, which cha- 
racterized her more careful and anxious sister. She might have 
made a more amiable companion, a more loving friend, but perhaps 
not a more heroic and self-denying missionary. She, doubtless, had 
the meekness and the patience to submit to trials without the mur- 
mur of a word, but not the heroic courage to meet and overcome 
them. She was the gentle Mary, who loved because it was her 
nature to love. Her love, indeed, was holy, for in all its strength and 
pathos it was consecrated upon one worthy of love so deep, so pure, 
so divine. Martha was a different character, possessing more strength 
and energy, being more stirring and active, more nervous and petu- 
lant. Her heart may have been quite as open to the wants of 
others, quite as ready to do and to suffer for her Saviour, as her more 
gentle and confiding sister. But there were household duties to be 
performed, and she was doubtless conscientious in endeavoring to 
provide suitable entertainment for so distinguished a guest. She 
conceived that the Master was worn and w r eary with his more public 
labors and cares, and she desired for him rest and refreshment. Are 
not these the suggestions of love and piety ? She, perhaps, erred in 
being too anxious and impulsive, and for the momentary fret which 
she manifested, she was duly reproved by Jesus, who delicately 
shielded the gentle and loving creature sitting at his feet from her 
unmerited rebuke. The reproof was timely and well meant, and, 
doubtless, well received ; and was a salutary warning to Martha not 
to suffer the earthly to supersede, even for a moment, the heavenly. 
A due attention to the former is right, but the danger is in excess 
and absorption of one's entire thoughts and energies. Safety lies in 



200 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

the other direction ; it is a course illumined with promises, radiant 
with hope, and crowned with a blessing. " And Mary hath chosen 
that good part which shall not be taken away from her." Lazarus 
was also a member of this family group. He was an only brother, 
and tenderly loved by Jesus, and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. 

Bereaved of their parents, and secluded from the world, their 
earthly affections clung the more fondly to him ; and it seems that he 
was devoted to the comfort and welfare of his sisters. He was the 
light of their household and the joy of their hearts, and beautiful and 
blessed were the hours spent in each other's society. 

Thus happy and harmonious, it was a model family, selected out 
of all the families then upon the earth, as the favorite resort of the 
Son of God. And shall they not be exempt from the blighting 
touch of sorrow ! 

Shall death enter, and amid hearts all warm, all sensitive, all 
gushing forth in tenderness, and deaf to the pleadings of sisterly 
affection, mar the happiness of this family group, and spread the 
loneliness of the grave over their dwelling ? At length, disease, 
that fearful precursor of a more dreaded calamity, comes. Lazarus 
is the chosen victim. 

" Therefore his sisters sent unto Jesus, saying, behold, he whom 
thou lovest is sick." 

It might seem that his affection for the family would have 
hastened his departure to the scene of trial ; but no, he intends to 
evolve light from amid the deepening gloom, and to elaborate from 
death and corruption an argument irresistible, in favor of life, and 
immortality. The awful blow, with crushing weight, at length has 
fallen. 

" Lazarus is dead ! •' 

That form which love had whispered would be last 
To greet their dying vision, cold and still 
In death is laid. The hand which they had cherished 
Would return no pressure. Those lips which cheered 



THE FAMILY AT BETHANY. 201 

Were closed in marble stillness, and gave back 
No fond caress! 

Alas ! to them the world is drear and desolate. 

" They had been oft alone 
When Lazarus had followed Christ to hear 
His teachings in Jerusalem ; but this 
Was more than solitude. The silence now 
Was void of expectation." 

But lo ! the Master cometh ; and on his lips are words of life and 
blessing ! 

To the anxious Martha, who, on the way, had met him, he says, 
" Thy brother shall rise again." In the full belief of that cardinal 
doctrine of our faith, she replies, " I know that he shall rise again, 
in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the 
resurrection and the life ! he that believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live." What sublime words are these ! words 
which spoke comfort to the sorrowing heart of Martha. " Thy bro- 
ther shall rise again." Not some undefined and spiritual substance 
shall be eliminated from the dark grave of mortality; not some 
strange being shall go forth from the tomb ; but thy brother, 
with all a brother's warm heart and sympathies, shall rise again. 
But this seemed to point to the dim and veiled future ; and shadow 
and mystery hung over the promise of reunion with the loved and lost. 
This, though comforting, was not satisfying ; it was too distant, too 
vague to be apprehended only by faith. She desires something imme- 
diate, and she seems to cling to the trembling hope that her Lord 
might now interpose, and restore to her the object of her love. She 
says, " I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will 
give it thee." With a bosom heaving with the struggling emotions 
of hope and fear, she returns to the house, and secretly says to her 
sister, " The Master is come and calleth for thee. As soon as she 

9* 



202 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him, and fell down at 
his feet, saying, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not 
died. When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews also 
weeping that came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was trou- 
bled, and said, Where have ye laid him ? They say unto him, Lord, 
come and see. Jesus wept." Behold now the humanity of Jesus ! 
He felt, aye, he felt deeply for those stricken-hearted mourners. Not 
with cold indifference, not in proud triumph did he stand by that 
grave of sorrow. 

Though he was thinking of a triumph — a triumph over death — 
yet sadness was in his heart, and again groaning within himself, he 
steps to the mouth of the cave. An awful suspense rests on the 
minds of that sorrowful group. He prays ; — deep and tremulous 
were the tones of his voice. 

" He ceased, 
And for a minute's space there was a hush, 
As if the angelic watchers of the world 
Had stayed the pulses of all breathing things, 
To listen to that prayer." 

" Take ye away the stone," said Jesus. There was no need of 
omnipotence for that. The stone is removed. Doubt and expec- 
tancy alternate in the agonized hearts of Mary and Martha. At 
length the mandate is given — 

" Come forth," he cries, " thou dead ! " 

O God ! what means that strange and sudden sound 
That murmurs from the tomb, that ghastly head 

With funeral fillets bound ! 
It is a living form ! — 

The loved, the lost, the won — 
Won from the grave, corruption, and the worm. 
And is not this the Son 
Of God 1 they whispered, while the sisters poured 
Their gratitude in tears ; for they had known the Lord." 



THE FAMILY AT BETHANY. 203 

They awoke from their delirium of grief as from a strange, dark 
dream. It is not a phantasm that is before them ; it is their brother, 
returned from the land of darkness and mystery. Then* home 
is again cheered by the tones of his glad voice, — the broken link is 
restored, — they are again, as before, the hopeful, the happy, the 
harmonious family at Bethany. 



XX. 
THE FAMILY OF CORNELIUS. 

One of the most attractive and interesting pictures in the New 
Testament is that of the centurion Cornelius and his household. A 
Gentile by birth and education, he had probably enjoyed the 
advantages of instruction in the principles of revealed religion, as 
taught among the Jews. A soldier, having a military force under 
his command, and occupied during a great part of his time by 
active duties, it is likely the influences which surrounded him were 
no more favorable to spiritual piety than such have been in later 
ages. Yet on him the spirit of prayer was largely poured out ; and 
it is evident he had such a conception of the nature of God and 
religious services, as showed he had not been left to the vague 
apjDrehensions of mere human reason. Though not a proselyte, we 
may conclude that the spiritual notions of the Deity peculiar to the 
Jewish creed had been recognised by him as truth. In an age of 
superstition and idolatry he worshipped one Eternal Father of the 
universe, acknowledging his spiritual and illimitable nature. He 
knew nothing, however, of the typical meaning of the stated sacri- 
fices, nor of the way of salvation opened through the blood shed on 
the cross for the remission of sins, nor of the Light which was to 
enlighten the Gentiles, and be the glory of Israel. The good 
report which he enjoyed among all the nation of the Jews bespeaks 
some acquaintance on his part with their tenets and their law, while 
the truth they had refused to receive had never yet been proclaimed 
in his hearing. 

The testimony recorded of him, that he was " a devout man, and 
one that feared God with all his house," is evidence that he fulfilled 
in their highest sense the duties belonging to the head of a family. 

204 



THE FAMILY OF CORNELIUS. 205 

It implies the subjection to his authority of each member of the 
circle, according to the provisions of the original institution, with a 
judicious government on his part, mild yet absolute, so far as their 
spiritual well-being was concerned. It was his province, as a father 
and ruler, to direct and purify their worship, to be their leader in 
sacred services, and to watch that the daily practice of all under his 
responsible control was conformable to the principles by which they 
professed to be guided. He " prayed to God always," and thus was 
enabled to discharge this trust. His benevolence overflowed not 
merely upon those nearest him, but upon all the people to whom he 
" gave much alms." He was universally esteemed a just man, not 
only enjoying the respect of all his acquaintance, but being an 
object of grateful veneration to the por who shared his bounty — 

" Distress but gleaned from others' store, 
From his she reaped a plenteous dole ;" 

while the spring of his charity lay not in selfish ostentation, but in 
pure love to his fellow beings, born of love to the Creator. What 
character more amiable or more admirable among men could be 
portrayed ! What nobler example could be presented to those of 
his own station and circumstances ! Yet for this man, whose heart 
had been prepared by the secret influence of Him who changes the 
unclean into clean, that the good seed might be sown therein, and 
ripen, and bring forth fruit in abundance — a revelation of the way 
of salvation was necessary before he could stand accepted before the 
face of his Maker. His prayers and his alms went up for a memorial, 
not to plead his cause or obtain favor for him at the throne of 
mercy, but to show that he was fitted, by the mysterious operation 
of the Spirit, to receive the grace which alone could make alive 
through Christ Jesus ; to be made a child of God through the 
righteousness which is by faith. The word had never yet reached him. 
Commanded to begin their teachings at Jerusalem, the apostles had 



206 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BII3LE. 

not yet so far shaken off the yoke of the ceremonial law as to con- 
template the full extent of their divine mission. The sound of the 
words heard from the mount that might be touched, lingered in 
their ears, and they knew not that they were already come to the 
typical Mount Sion, the city of the living God. The exclusive 
character of the Jewish ordinances forbade the sharing of their 
privileges with those who had not received the seal of initiation ; 
the same spirit of limitation in their apprehension pervaded Chris- 
tianity. The fountain of blessing, issuing from the gates of 
Jerusalem, was to flow only in the ancient channels ; the people who 
had of old been chosen for the preservation of the divine oracles, 
were still to be the sole depositaries of the truth, and to dispense it 
to the world. The idea that God would pour out upon, the uncir- 
cumcised heathen the gift of the Holy Ghost, that the blessings of 
the religion they were appointed to disseminate were to be free to 
all mankind, as the bestowment of air and light, that whosoever 
would might drink of the water of life freely — that the Almighty 
was no respecter of persons — had not entered into their conception. 
The knowledge of this great feature in the new dispensation was 
first given to the apostles and brethren in the impressive instance of 
the family of Cornelius. 

This new revelation of the divine will, destined to be so mighty and 
pervading in its effects, was made known by two visions. One was 
sent to the Roman centurion as he fasted and prayed — the other to 
the apostle as he prayed upon the housetop ; and how marvellous is 
the connexion between them ! The military chief and the zealous 
disciple were strangers to each other ; in the ordinary course of 
human affairs they might never have met. They were brought 
together by a miraculous interposition of Providence — w r ith a design 
not only gracious to each of them as individuals, but involving con- 
sequences of infinite importance to the whole human race. The 
piety and good works of Cornelius were had in remembrance in the 
sight of God, because He was mindful, in his all-embracing mercy, 



THE FAMILY OF CORNELIUS. 20* 

of the helpless condition of the nation who sat in darkness and the 
shadow of death. The exclusiveness of Peter was to be rebuked, 
because the end of all things was come as regarded the former dis- 
pensation ; the first being taken away, that the glorious second 
might be established. It is in this light that we must look upon 
the vision in which Cornelius saw the man in bright clothing — the 
angel of God standing before him, and calling him familiarly by 
name. It was indeed a worthy mission for one of the most exalted 
of the hierarchy of heaven, to be charged with such a task — to re- 
move the partition wall built for ages — to take away the veil which 
had hitherto forbidden access to the most holy place. 

Although the supernatural visitant called him by name, the 
soldier was afraid when he looked on him. The Being whom he 
worshipped so devoutly appeared not yet to him in the light of a 
Father, whose messages he could hear without trembling, for he had 
not yet beheld the invisible in the face of Him who is the express 
image of his person. But with submissive reverence he asked, 
" What is it, Lord ?" The reply was most encouraging, and 
assured him of acceptance, the way to which was now to be shown 
him. " Send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname 
is Peter ; he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do." 

The angel departed, and Cornelius immediately summoned two 
of the servants of his household, and a soldier of the guard he kept 
about his person, one who like him was deeply imbued with the 
reverence due to the things of religion, and who worshipped in sin- 
cerity, according to the light given him. To these the chief related 
what had passed, and sent them to Joppa in search of the man 
indicated in the vision. 

It was necessary that the mind of Peter should be prepared 
before he could be satisfied to do what implied the abrogation of 
the ritual law, established so many ages before by divine authority, 
and to dismiss at once his Jewish prejudices. A mysterious vision 
while he was at prayer on the housetop, in which animals declared 



208 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

unclean by the law were pronounced clean and fit for use, threw 
him into musing, till the arrival of the men sent to seek him, and 
the command of the Spirit that he should go with them explained 
the meaning of the injunction thrice solemnly repeated — " What 
God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." The men were * 
foreigners and Gentiles, such as a Jew could not associate with, or 
come unto, without violating the law ; but he was commanded in a 
manner he dared not gainsay, to go down and receive them as 
guests ; to depart with them, without hesitation, he knew not 
whither, nor for what purpose, doubting nothing, for that they had 
been sent by the Holy Spirit. There could have been no greater 
trial of his faith, for it brought into conflict duties he had held con- 
sistent with one another ; and as yet he knew not to what tended 
the strange requisition. But he could not be disobedient to the 
positive command laid on him. Inquiring of the messengers their 
business, and hearing their report of the character of Cornelius, and 
the cause of his sending for him, he invited the men to remain with 
him till the following day. Doubtless it was a great surprise to the 
brethren at Joppa, to see the great apostle of the circumcision thus 
offering hospitable entertainment to persons whom the religious cus- 
toms of his country forbade him to harbor. They were probably 
liberal both of question and remonstrance, and some of them accom- 
panied Peter on his journey, desiring to understand further the 
import of what had occurred ; or perhaps going at his request, that 
they might witness all that should pass, and bear testimony to other 
believers. 

On their arrival at Csesarea, they found preparations made for 
their reception. The centurion had assembled his kinsmen and near 
friends, all disposed, as he was, to receive instruction, that they 
might share in the expected communication. There must have 
been something peculiarly impressive in the scene, when so many 
converts on whom grace had been shed, preparing their hearts to 
receive the truth, were waiting the approach of the stranger from 



THE FAMILY OF CORNELIUS. 209 

whom they were to hear the words of life. The hush of 
expectation was at length broken by the announcement of his 
coming ; and Cornelius went out to meet him. He doubtless ex- 
pected to see an extraordinary person; perhaps he thought the 
Messiah predicted by the prophets was before him. He fell pros- 
trate at his feet, and worshipped him ; but Peter refused the 
homage, as not to be received by a mere man. Raising him from 
the ground, he bade him stand up, for that he was, like himself, but 
a frail human being, and by no means entitled to the reverence due 
one of divine nature. The words spoken before entering the house 
seem to have been on the apostle's side, and explanatory of his real 
character, for he was most anxious that no mistake should be made 
with regard to his person or mission, and always emphatically 
rebuked those who offered him divine honors. When he entered, 
and stood in the midst of the assembly convened to meet him, his 
first address reminded them of the prejudices of his nation, and the 
law prohibiting the association of Jews with foreigners. In this 
case, however, he had acted contrary to the law, and had overstepped 
the prejudice by the express command of the Maker of all, who 
had shown him that he " should not call any man common or 
unclean." With this new and enlarged apprehension of the 
dignity of his fellow beings, he had come when sent for ; and now 
desired to know why he had been called thither. The account 
given of his vision by Cornelius first showed the divine purpose, in 
all its breadth, to his understanding. He saw that his judgment 
had erred in limiting the blessing meant by the Giver to be 
unlimited; and after the ingenious conclusion of the centurion's 
speech — " Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear 
all things that are commanded thee of God." Peter's first w T ords 
imply a sense of his error. The prejudices in which he had been 
educated — the natural clinging of opinion and feeling to a time- 
honored dispensation, gave way at once to the conviction forced 
upon him, " that God is no respecter of persons." The universality 



210 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

of the gospel provisions was evident to his mind ; and impressed 
with the discovery of God's gracious purpose, made in this unprece- 
dented transaction, he proceeded to unfold the message with which 
he had been charged to sinners — the words of life whereby it had 
been promised — not by prayers and alms — the centurion and his 
family should be saved. As he " began to speak" — before his dis- 
course was ended, an event took place most marvellous to the 
believers who had come from Joppa with the apostle. " The Holy 
Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." They were instantly 
endued, not only with the illuminating and sanctifying influences of 
the Comforter, but with the same miraculous gifts which had accom- 
panied his advent on the day of Pentecost. There could be no 
doubting nor question further ; the like gift was poured out upon 
the Gentiles as on those born within the pale of the ancient church ; 
and Peter appealed to the brethren who were with him, to know if 
any could forbid the baptism of water, by which the new converts, 
thus honored with the seal of heaven, should be formally received 
into their ranks. The same argument prevailed to convince the 
apostles and brethren in Jerusalem, who afterwards publicly called 
Peter to account for thus dispensing with the law of ordinances. 

We are taught by this view of the family of Cornelius how 
much may be done by the piety of the master of a household. It 
is reasonable to suppose that most of those who owned subjection to 
his military authority were influenced by the equity of his cha- 
racter, his liberal charity, and his sincere piety ; while those nearest 
him, with his kinsmen, were accustomed to join in his religious ser- 
vices. Each morning and evening his prayers ascended, and they 
were not merely for the daily blessings of life, but for new light 
whereby he might walk. The knowledge he had gained taught 
him to crave further directions respecting the truth and will of God, 
and he waited in earnest faith for the manifestation. What an 
example was this Gentile captain to Christians who live under the 
light for which he prayed, and which was so marvellously sent ! 



THE FAMILY OF CORNELIUS. 211 

That this man — born a heathen — should not fail of repentance unto 
life, an angel is despatched to instruct him whom to send for ; that 
Peter should not be disobedient to the message, a wonderful vision 
is sent, with the interpretation by the Holy Spirit himself; thus by 
a series of miracles are gathered the first fruits of the harvest of 
Gentiles for the church of the Redeemer. 

A heathen philosopher says — " No one is happy before death." 
Experience has taught that no earthly possessions bestow happiness. 
But it belongs only to Christianity to point out the means both of 
attaining the highest degree of enjoyment in this life, and of secur- 
ing that of the life hereafter. 



XXI. 
THE FAMILY OF MATTATHIAS. 

IN THE APOCRYPHA. 

The history of Mattathias and his family illustrates the heroic life 
of their ao-e — the character of heroes who ventured and sacrificed 
all, in maintenance of their fidelity to the religion of their fathers. 
Their patriotism, valor, self-devotion, and generous zeal in the cause 
of their suffering country, present a lesson and example which it is 
useful to contemplate. 

The invasions of foreign kings and the unprincipled ambition of 
their own rulers brought calamities upon the people of Judea, 
scarcely less terrible than the captivity of seventy years in Babylon 
which they had suffered. Their history teenxs with accounts of fac- 
tion, persecution, plunder, and bloodshed, through the turbulent years 
that preceded the succession of Antiochus Epiphanes to the throne 
of Syria. The atrocities committed by this voluptuous and cruel 
monarch, in pursuance of his attempt to exterminate the religion of 
the Jews, went beyond those of former tyranny and violence. The 
insurrection of Jason in Jerusalem, while Antiochus was engaged in 
the subjugation of Egypt, formed a sufficient pretext for his march 
against the rebellious city, the slaughter of forty thousand of the 
inhabitants, and the seizure of as many more as slaves. The 
victorious invader proceeded to the outrages by which he meant to 
trample on their faith. He entered sacrilegiously into the Temple, 
pillaged the treasury, and seized all the sacred utensils — the golden 
altar and candlesticks, the table of shew-bread and censers, the 
precious vessels and ornaments of the sanctuary ; and not content 
with the rich plunder thus collected, wantonly profaned the altar of 

212 



THE FAMILY OF MATTATHIAS. 213 

burnt offerings by the sacrifice of an unclean animal, sprinkling 
every part of the Temple with the liquor ; " thus desecrating," says 
Milman, " with the most odious defilement the sacred place which 
the Jews had considered for centuries the one holy spot in all the 
universe." The sufferings of the people and the desolation of the 
land after the spoiler had left it, are described in the simple language 
of the chronicle — " Therefore there was great mourning in Israel, in 
every place where they were ; so that the princes and elders 
mourned, the virgins and young men were made feeble, and the 
beauty of women was changed." When two years were expired, 
Antiochus, being determined to destroy even the semblance of 
national independence within the territories under his power, and to 
compel the adoption of his own laws and religion, issued the bloody 
edict which Apollonius was appointed to execute. The agent proved 
himself apt to do the will of a sanguinary master. Having imposed 
by peaceable words on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, while they were 
occupied in religious service on the Sabbath, unsuspicious of evil, he 
caused his soldiers to fall suddenly upon them, " smote the city very 
sore and destroyed much people," seizing the spoils, dismantling the 
houses and setting them on fire, and taking captive the women and 
children. Having thrown down the walks, he built a fortress on 
Mount Sion, with mighty towers, a stronghold for his men, stored 
with armor and provisions gathered from the plunder of the city. 
The inhabitants of the country around, harassed by the enemy who 
had set up the abomination of desolation in the holy place, dared no 
longer assemble to worship in the sanctuary ; but met in secret and 
in fear, to call upon the God of their fathers, or lingered sadly 
around the ruins they loved so well. The voice of prayer and 
praise was heard no more ; Sion was made a habitation of strangers, 
and was forsaken of her children ; her excellency was converted into 
mourning, her sanctuary laid waste like a wilderness, her feasts and 
Sabbaths turned into reproach. Still further was her dishonor 
increased. A decree came forth from the tyrant, commanding 



214 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIJBLE. 

uniformity of worship throughout his dominions ; and messengers 
were despatched to enforce submission, to prohibit the sacrifices and 
observances of the Jews, and to compel the people to desecrate 
the sanctuary, profane the Sabbaths, set up altars to idols, eat 
swine's flesh and unclean food, neglect the rites of their religion, 
and change all its ordinances. The penalty of death was denounced 
on all who should dare to disobey the edict, and executed on women 
who ventured to circumcise their children. Amidst acts of barbarity 
too numerous and too terrible to record, and instances of heroism on 
which Jewish tradition dwells with pride, the faithful among the 
Hebrews were driven into secret places wherever they could flee for 
succor. Many suffered martyrdom, "for they chose rather to die, 
that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not 
profane the holy covenant ;" while others yielded to the oppressor 
and consented to the decree. Throughout the cities of Judah idol 
altars were built and .the people forced to join in the worship ; the 
orgies of the Bacchanalia were substituted for the feast of Tabernacles, 
and the Holy Temple was dedicated to Jupiter Olympus. " There 
was very great wrath upon Israel ;" the nation, and the religion, 
preserved in its ordinances for so many centuries, seemed on the 
vero*e of utter extinction. It was a crisis that called for Divine 
interposition to save from destruction the sacred deposit of truth, 
committed to the chosen people, that it might be preserved pure 
through ages of corruption, to the coming of Him of whom Moses 
and the prophets had spoken. 

The appointed deliverer arose at the hour when there appeared 
no hope of succor, except in a miracle like those which saved Israel 
of old. The cry of a trampled nation went up to their Creator, and 
was answered, not by supernatural signs and wonders and the advent 
of the destroying angel to smite the invading host, but by the 
instrumentality of heroic men, who stood forth ready to do and 
suffer all things in the righteous cause. Modin, an elevated town 
which overlooked the sea, was the dwelling-place of Mattathias, 



THE FAMILY OF MATTATHIAS. 215 

a descendant of the priestly line of Joarib, who, though advanced in 
years, had the inextinguishable spirit of a soldier, with sagacity that 
qualified him to be a leader to his countrymen. He had five sons — 
Johanan, Simon, Judas, who was called Maccabeus, Eleazar, and 
Jonathan ; all of whom were in the prime of their strength, and 
shared the adventurous daring of their father. The blasphemies 
committed in Jerusalem and Judea, the profanation of the sanctuary, 
and the wanton and cruel outrages against the religion of the Jews, 
grieved the heart of the old man and his sons — that they desired 
death rather than life ; they broke out into lamentations, " rent their 
clothes and put on sackcloth, and mourned very sore." Meanwhile 
the officers of Antiochus, arriving at the city of Modin, to enforce the 
execution of the royal decree, came to Mattathias as an honorable 
and great man, strengthened with sons and brethren, and offered 
splendid rewards to purchase his submission and his influence with 
others. Numbers of the faithful had fled to Modin for security, and, 
it might be conjectured, would be swayed by the example of such a 
man. The answer of the old man to the magnificent offers was 
given in a loud voice, that his resolution might be publicly 
proclaimed : " Though all the nations that are under the king's 
dominion obey him, and fall away every one from the religion of 
their fathers, and give consent to his commandments, yet will I and 
my sons and my brethren walk in the covenant of our fathers." 
The scene may be imagined as one of the most picturesque and 
impressive. The aged man surrounded by his household and 
relatives, whose decision was his — confronting the haughty Appelles, 
clothed in the delegated authority of royalty ; — the crowd of anxious 
listeners — wavering perhaps themselves, but confirmed by the lofty 
language they heard ; the consequences depending on the issue, in 
which every man, woman, and child was so fearfully interested ; the 
condescending entreaty of the king's commissioner, and the stern 
reply of the incorruptible patriot — present us with a scene the moral 
grandeur of which has rarely been equalled. The altar, it appears, 



216 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

had already been prepared for offering sacrifice to the heathen deity, 
according to the royal commandment. No sooner had the voice of 
the noble Mattathias ceased to be heard, than an apostate Jew came 
forward, in the sight of all, to offer sacrifice. Inflamed with zeal, 
and unable to forbear the exhibition of his just anger, the old man 
rushed to the altar and slew him upon it. Then he fell upon the 
king's commissioner, whom he killed, and pulled down the altar, 
and lifting the voice of patriotic indignation, he cried throughout 
the city, calling upon all who were zealous for the law to follow 
him and his sons to the mountains. This heroic family fled, 
without carrying with them any of their possessions in the town ; 
they w r ere willing to give up all for the privilege of living and 
dying in the true faith. Their example was followed by others, 
and when a thousand Jewish fugitives, surprised in a cave by 
the Syrian soldiers, were slain on the Sabbath-day, unresisting — 
for they would not profane the day by fighting, even in self- 
defence — Mattathias and his followers determined to do battle 
on that day as upon any other, if assaulted by the enemy. Their 
ranks were swelled by those who fled from persecution, and their 
enterprise of revolt was conducted with zeal and discretion. Con- 
cealed in the secret fastnesses of the mountains, they watched their 
opportunities to descend upon the cities, and going round about, 
pulled down the heathen altars, enforced circumcision, punished 
apostates, and pursued the invaders, who fled before them. The 
work of deliverance and restoration prospered in their han^ and 
they recovered many copies of the law. The terror of Mattathias fell 
upon his enemies, and brought crowds of zealots to his standard of 
rebellion. The work was advancing, but not yet ended ; the struggle, 
toilsome and severe, was in its progress, and the faith of those who 
trusted in a Higher Power could discern the end, though as yet it was 
beyond the vision of hope, when he, whose mighty spirit had labored 
with the revolt and brought it to light, sank under the weight of 
years. " The time drew near that Mattathias should die ;" but on the 



THE FAMILY OF MATTATHIAS. 21 7 

point of departure, he committed to his sons the mission he had so 
far nobly discharged, and reminding them of the worthy acts of the 
Hebrew fathers, enjoined it upon them to give their lives for the 
covenant. To Simon as a man of counsel, the brothers and their 
followers were tc listen ; but Judas Maccabeus, who had been a hero 
from his youth, was appointed their captain in the father's stead. 
Having settled the succession to his command and repeated his 
injunction and his blessing, this brave and pious man died, and was 
buried at Modin in the sepulchre of his ancestors, mourned for by 
all Israel. 

The dying command of the father was reverenced by his 
sons, and the success that followed the banner of the Maccabees 
showed his wisdom in the choice of a leader. The signal defeat of 
Apollonius, Governor of Samaria, whose sword was carried all his 
life afterwards as a trophy by the victorious general — the overthrow 
of Seron and his mighty host in the pass of Bath-horon, with other 
battles won, brought upon the people round about " an exceeding 
great dread " of Judas and the valiant brethren, and gave hopes to 
the trampled nation of success in their struggle for independence. 
The father's example had been nobly imitated by the sons ; the 
renown they acquired was worthy of him ; they fought zealously for 
the lives and laws of their countrymen, looking for victory, not in 
the multitude of an host, but in the strength that cometh from 
Heaven. 

The tyrant Antiochus saw the danger, and committed to Lysias, 
a noble of the blood royal, the task of subduing the insurrection in 
Judea ; Nicanor and Gorgias were chosen by him to lead the 
army, with the general Ptolemy ; and the united forces, swelled by 
a foreign horde, advanced to accomplish not only the destruction of 
the insurgents, but the rooting out of Israel and the utter desolation 
of the remnant of Jerusalem. It was the crisis in which faith and 
constancy suffered their severest trial : for the little band Judas 
had assembled at Mizpeh numbered only six thousand men. The 

10 



218 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

sacred city, over against which stood those devoted warriors, " lay 
void as a wilderness ; there was none of her children that went in 
or out ; the sanctuary was trodden down, and aliens kept the strong- 
hold ; the heathen had their habitation in that place, and joy was 
taken from Jacob, and the pipe and the harp ceased." From 
Mizpeh arose the voice of prayer, while the people fasted and 
exhibited the customary tokens of humiliation before God. The 
book of the law, profaned by the heathen, was laid open ; the appeal 
mad a to Hebrew zeal for the divinely appointed ordinances; and 
the proclamation sounded — that all who were fearful or whose 
domestic occupations might interfere with their devotion to the 
cause, should return, according to the law, to their own homes. 
The force of Judas was thus reduced one half, and even these soldiers 
were unprovided with proper armor or weapons. They came" in 
sight of the camp of the heathen at Emmaus, strong and compassed 
around with expert and valiant horsemen. But the victory wa3 not 
to the mighty. The attack of Judas on the enemy's camp resulted 
in the defeat and flight of the Syrians ; and while he restrained his 
men from taking the spoil, till Gorgias and his host should return 
from the mountains where they had been seeking the Jewish 
insurgents, that army came in sight. The smoke of their burning- 
tents first revealed the disaster that had taken place, and was 
quickly followed by the startling discovery of the flight of their 
friends and the force of Judas in the plain ready for battle. It was 
too late to retreat without loss ; the conflict was short, the enemy 
soon fled, and the victors took possession of the rich spoil of the 
camp. This decisive victory was followed by others equally 
important ; and having discomfited at last the army of Lysias, 
Judas and his brethren, with their assembled followers, entered 
Jerusalem. It was a day of sorrow and humiliation, mingled with 
pious joy, when the deliverers of Israel went up into Mount Sion 
and looked once more upon the ruined sanctuary, the altar profaned, 
the gates burned, shrubs growing in the courts as in the forest or ir. 



THE FAMILY OF MATTATHIAS. 219 

one of the mountains, and the priests' chambers pulled down. The 
sight of desolation so fearful stirred the fountains of religious grief, 
as well as humbled their feelings of national pride. The voice of 
prayer and praise was mingled with loud lamentations ; and the 
alarm of trumpets and the wild cry to Heaven for vengeance, with 
the usual oriental tokens of horror and anguish — the rending of their 
garments, prostration, and heaping of ashes on their heads. Their 
leader proceeded to the work of repairing and purifying, appointing 
armed men meanwhile to fight against the garrison in the fortress ; 
installed in their office the priests who remained worthy of it, 
cleansed every part of the sanctuary, built a new altar, and replaced 
the holy vessels and the hangings of the temple. The feast of 
dedication which followed on the completion of this sacred work, 
celebrated with songs, and anthems, and harps, and cymbals, and 
the praises of the people, was a festival indeed of joy and gh.dness 
— and kept from year to year thenceforward, in memory of the 
nation's wonderful deliverance from the power of the heathen. 

The military career of Judas, as narrated in Jewish history, is 
interesting and instructive. He was to see the desired independence 
of his country more severely threatened from internal contentions, 
fomented by the new sovereign of Antioch, than it had been by the 
savage tyranny of his predecessor ; for violence and oppression had 
roused the energy of the people, effacing petty causes of dissension, 
and uniting them in common zeal for their common defence ai d the 
restoration of their national religion. When the cause of patriotism 
and that of faith were blended, an invincible safeguard to the nation 
was raised up, and dangers of the most insidious kind — the 
encroachment of foreign customs and vices, avoided. The General 
had now to struggle with the combined evils of treachery and 
violence ; and bravely did he bear himself through all, to the final 
step of a treaty of alliance with Rome, securing the indeperdence 
of Judea, under her powerful protection. The death of the great 
Maccabee was equally glorious with his life. Beset by the host of 



220 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

Demetrius, under Alcimus and Bacchides, the little army gathered 
around his standard, though equal in number to those who had 
descended on the enemy's camp at Emmaus, lacked their resolution 
and strength of faith in the God of battles. They saw the great 
multitude of the invading army, " were sore afraid, and many con- 
veyed themselves out of the host." Abandoned of his soldiers, save 
eight hundred men, and sore distressed in mind, the hero spurned 
the entreaty of those who were with him to withdraw from the 
unequal contest. He was ready to die for his brethren, but not to 
stain his honor by flight. Once more his chivalrous spirit rejoiced 
in the battle, which continued from the morning till night ; once 
more he saw the enemy give way before him, but he was over- 
powered by numbers and fell upon the field. His brothers 
Jonathan and Simon bore his corpse from the ground when the 
battle was over ; it was conveyed to Modin and interred with mili- 
tary honors amidst the lamentation of Israel, in the ancestral burial- 
place. 

Two others of the noble sons of Mattathias had perished by a 
violent death in the service of their country. John had been sur- 
prised and slain by Arabs, and Eleazar, in battle with the Syrians, 
had sacrificed himself, hoping to strike a fatal blow at the enemy, 
by rushing under and stabbing an elephant, which, from its height 
and royal harness, he supposed to bear the king. Of Judas, the 
martyr of his country, Milman says : — " Among those lofty spirits 
who have asserted the liberty of their native land against wanton 
and cruel oppression, none have surpassed the most able of the 
Maccabees in accomplishing a great end with inadequate means ; 
none ever united more generous valor with a better cause." 

Amidst the oppression of the partisans of the Maccabees that 
followed, Jonathan assumed the command at their request, and soon 
gave evidence that he shared the spirit of his gallant brothers. Ho 
became High Priest, and was the first of the Asmonean princes, 
whose reign terminated with Herod the Great, after having continued 



THE FAMILY OF MATTATHIAS. 221 

one hundred and twenty-six years. After many services and vic- 
tories, he was treacherously taken prisoner by Tryphon, who aspired 
to the crown he had placed on the head of young Antiochus, and 
afterwards put to death. The last of the noble race of Mattathias, 
Simon, was invested with the command, and succeeded in establish- 
ing the independence of the Jewish kingdom. The land had rest 
while he lived ; his reign was one of beneficence and peace, and he 
was universally beloved. But it was his fate to perish by violence 
like the rest. The country was invaded by Candebus, the general 
of Antiochus ; a traitor was found among those of his own house- 
hold, and the sovereign, with his eldest son, assassinated at a banquet 
in Jericho. John Hyrcanus, the younger son, succeeded his father, 
and under him Judea once more assumed the dignity of an inde- 
pendent state. 

The sepulchre with seven pillars, raised on an elevated site at Modin, 
for the father, mother, and . sons of the Maccabean family, stood 
as a sea-mark, it is said, to the vessels that passed the coast. The 
monument to their honor in the hearts of their countrymen was 
more enduring than marble. Viewing them as a family, their zeal, 
then* magnanimity, and their generous heroism, qualities which not 
only marked them as individuals, but drew closer the bonds of rela- 
tionship between them, shine with eminent lustre. The living prin- 
ciple which animated them, which lifted them above the things of 
earth, and gave them power to sacrifice life itself in the cause to 
which they were pledged, was religious faith. Theirs was no blind 
and fruitless belief, nor one satisfied with mere assent to doctrines or 
performance of ceremonies. It was the element of a life in the 
soul, higher and purer than that of the senses, with aims beyond 
this world and strength from above to work wonders. The dying 
exhortation of Mattathias, the precepts he leaves with his sons, and 
the examples he holds up for their emulation, show that he had 
brought them up religiously. While not insensible to the considera- 
tions which have led so many heroes to pour out their blood, the 



222 FAMILY PICTURES FROM THE BIBLE. 

love of glory and of his fatherland, he discerns the nothingness of 
that renown which is merely the applause of men, and the intimate 
connexion of true fame with the discharge of their highest duty as 
men, and as Hebrews. He bids his sons " be valiant, and show 
yourselves men in behalf of the law, for by it shall ye obtain glory." 
His words sink deep into their hearts, and well do they prove them- 
selves worthy of him, in devotion to the religion of their fathers, as 
in valor and renown. 

No account is given of the mother of this gallant race ; but from 
the character of the sons we must infer that she possessed the 
virtues they inherited. One mother of that period, whose sufferings 
are recorded, is worthy of higher admiration and esteem than the 
heathen mother who gave the shield to her son, with the injunction 
to return with it or upon it. She was taken with her seven sons, 
who were commanded by the king to taste swine's flesh contrary to 
the law. When they refused, and declared their readiness to die 
rather than transgress the laws of their fathers, six were put to death, 
-one after another, with cruel torments, in the presence of their 
mother, who " exhorted every one of them in her own language, 
filled with courageous spirit," bidding them cleave to the Creator 
who gave them breath and life, and could restore them. With the 
youngest and last remaining son of the seven, Antiochus essayed 
the persuasion of splendid promises, offering him both wealth and 
promotion ; and when the young man would in no case listen to 
him, he bade his mother give counsel that might save the life of her 
child. Her counsel was worthy a noble mother, and the spirit in 
which his brethren had suffered martyrdom. " I beseech thee, my 
son," she says, " look upon the heaven and the earth and all that is 
therein, and consider that God made them of things that were not ; 
and so was mankind made likewise. Fear not this tormentor, but, 
being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death, that I may receive 
thee again in mercy with thy brethren." After he also had died 
undefiled, putting his trust in the Lord, the mother died last of all. 



THE FAMfLY OF MATT ATIIIAS. 223 

probably executed by command of the tyrant. Such examples 
illustrate the words of Him who bade his disciples fear not those 
who could only destroy the body ; and deserve to be placed by the 
side of the martyrs of Christianity, whose sufferings for conscience' 
sake, and perseverance to the end, illustrate the power of the faith 
which overcometh the world. 



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